THE story of recent American theatre has been, to a large extent, the
story of folk at the bottom of the pile trying to scramble their way up
the ladder -- and more often than not, slipping back down again. David
Epstein's new Jersey-based comedy is no exception. Epstein's three bums
are, to put it mildly, not having a good day.
Setting out to hold a small party in their hoodlum-run bar, two of
them encounter a larger fry hurtling towards them, pushed out of a
window by their Mr Big. Later we learn one of them has squandered all
their money on a soya bean equities gamble, later still that they've
even botched a kidnap job. Their personal lives are in a lousy state,
too.
So do this trio of no-hopers have anything going for them? To begin
with, not a lot. Even the redoubtable Mike McShane has trouble heaving
his way through sexist and racist lines that fall to the earth, like the
unfortunate be-ringed gangster, with a dull thud. If you are going to be
really obnoxious, do it with style.
The second half, however, sees a drastic shift of emotional gear.
Losers they may be but you can't in the end, not feel a growing sense of
compassion for these wild-eyed friends who wonder how life has brought
them to this pitch. ''The past is history. We'll go on from here,'' says
Kevin McNally's racy, slick-suited Botts with desperate stoicism. To
which, so saying, his two side kicks, Steven O'Shea's weasel-faced
Merola and McShane's Bompkee appropriately swivel their frames round and
turn their backs on us.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article