YACHTSMEN Anthony Giardina, an author and playwright, also wrote "The City of Conversation." Doug Hughes, whose most recent Broadway production was "Junk," won a Tony Award for his direction of "Doubt."
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"DAN CODY'S YACHT" IS ONE OF the great play titles of all time. If you happen to get the literary reference. (See below.) Anthony Giardina's two-act dramedy by that name is a striking, clever, consistently and insistently thought-provoking play that is just completing its world-premiere run at City Center.
SAIL AWAY A scene from the 2013 film version of "The Great Gatsby." A yacht is a yacht is a yacht is a yacht.
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The yacht in question is from a flashback section of the most famous Jazz Age novel of all time.
To the young Gatz, resting on his oars and looking up at
the railed deck, the yacht represented all the beauty and
glamor in the world.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby," Chapter 6
As a teenager, Gatz (the future Jay Gatsby) spots this magnificent vessel near the shores of Lake Superior, introduces himself to the wealthy middle-aged owner (Mr. Cody) and ends up working for him for five years. That's just long enough for Gatz/Gatsby to learn how to act, look and talk like a rich man.
AFTER-SCHOOL SPECIAL Rick Holmes as a high school student's unhappy father and Kristen Bush as the boy's teacher, who has given him a thoroughly deserved F on his book report.
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The very first scene of "Dan Cody's Yacht," which takes place in an otherwise empty high school classroom, jumps right into that novel's themes literally and figuratively. Kevin O'Neill (Rick Holmes) is there to talk to a teacher, Cara Russo (Kristen Bush), about the F she gave his son, Conor, on his book report on "The Great Gatsby." Although it's clear to both father and teacher that the boy hadn't read a word of the book, Dad is hoping Teacher will give the kid a break. "He gets no credit for trying to fake his way through?"
Kevin is an arrogant, horrible human being. In their first meeting, he asks Cara how much money she earns, presses her on how generous a pension she has and appears to offer her a large cash bribe. If you're looking for a play in which you'll know whom to hate from the very beginning, you've come to the right place.
But! Giardina, the playwright, is the man who also wrote "The City of Conversation," a sophisticated commentary on modern-day Washington DC. and one of Jan Maxwell's last brilliant stage outings -- so, as they say, it's complicated.
RICH KID, POOR KID Conor (John Kroft) and Angela (Casey Whyland), who have almost nothing in common, are thrown together.
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During that same first meeting, Kevin offers to teach Cara how to get rich via investments. That way she can change the future of her daughter, Angela (Casey Whyland), who is said to be way-above-average intelligent and a talented poet. And who has to go to an inferior high school because they live in Patchett, a former mill town near Stillwell, the affluent suburb where Kevin lives and Angela teaches.
Yes, of course Kevin has an ulterior motive. There's a vote coming up that would combine the two school districts, which he doesn't want because he's afraid the poor kids will bring down the academic standards of Stillwell. And then, how will Conor get into Harvard?
THIS IS CARA'S HOUSE Bush, right, with Whyland. They live in a downscale town, so the daughter has to attend an inferior high school and may end up in community college.
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Cara is in favor of the change, but maybe she wouldn't be, Kevin thinks, if it didn't affect her so directly. With a little money, she could afford a house in Stillwell, and Angela could transfer and get a decent education.
THIS IS KEVIN'S HOUSE And these are his rich friends, who meet once a month to decide where to invest all their extra money. (From left: Jordan Lage, Meredith Forlenza and Laura Lao Chen. That's Bush hidden behind Forlenza's glass.)
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But there's also a possibility that despite his overall detestable character, Kevin actually enjoys helping people. His son is defiantly resistant to his efforts to do anything for him, so Kevin has to turn somewhere. (The playwright has eliminated the possible motive of romantic-sexual interest in Cara by making Kevin a gay man who came out just before his divorce.)
Cara resists the investment offer, of course. As Kevin loves saying, she's "incorruptible." But can she resist forever? Wouldn't it be for a greater good, to change her daughter's life? Could she possibly invest only in inherently noble companies? Will she be in over her head? And should people with money meddle in the lives and finances of those who have none? How can they possibly understand the risks?
MARGARITAS AND NACHOS Over drinks, Cara's best friend, Cathy (Roxanna Hope Radja), left, makes her case for life in Patchett and limited expectations.
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This offer is Cara's equivalent of Dan Cody's yacht. (Kevin describes the fictional Gatz as as "looking for something, anything, really, to save him from his closed, limited life.") Her lovable blue-collar best friend (Roxanna Hope Radja) is opposed to the whole idea, because she knows Cara will change -- and abandon her. But also because she's comfortable where she is and fears change.
Teenage Angela is torn. It's a question of possibility (does self-interest have to be a bad word?) versus loyalty to one's peers. Not everyone wants opportunity thrown at them, she tells Kevin when they meet and talk at Starbucks.
LET ME HELP Kevin goes directly to Angela to encourage her ambitions. She's more interested in her frappuccino.
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The daughter's casting and wardrobe (costumes by Catherine Zuber) are interesting. While Ms. Bush's Cara is slim, polished and primly dressed, Ms. Whyland's Angela is overweight and sloppy. Her hairstyle and clothing would look right on a guest on one of those afternoon TV talk shows where trailer-park families throw chairs at one another.
There's something terribly ugly about this play, but that is not meant as a criticism. The fact is there's something terribly ugly about the world these characters live in and the decisions some of them are forced to make, and we need to look at that. Kevin laughs at the idea of the United States as a melting pot. "We don't melt anymore," he tells Cara.
Giardina tells their story smartly and with more nuance than judgment, more compassion than derision. Some may see this as a straightforward story about decisions and consequences, but the reflections on the nature and, yes, plasticity of character are even more significant.
It helps to have a thinking-person's director like Doug Hughes around to deal with these complex people and realities. "Gatsby" isn't the only work of literature in the air. In Act II, both "Howards End" and "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" come to mind, and their shared sense of quiet individual tragedy lingers.
"Dan Cody's Yacht," City Center, 131 West 55th Street. mtc.org. World premiere run: June 6--July 1, 2018.