When the Tony-winning David Cromer directs a play Off Off Broadway, I go. He won that Tony for directing “The Band’s Visit” but has also brought to the stage great productions of “Our Town,” “Prayer for the French Republic” and “Dead Outlaw.” What’s he doing Off Off Broadway in a theater with only 105 seats?
Turns out, he’s bringing to theatergoers one of the best new plays to open this year. Preston Max Allen’s “Caroline” had its world premiere Monday at the MCC Theater and we know we’re in a fine storyteller’s hands as soon as a mother, Maddie (Chloë Grace Moretz), and her very young child (River Lipe-Smith) sit down in a greasy spoon for a breakfast of french toast and mac ‘n’ cheese. There’s the child’s broken arm, the mother’s request for a bag of ice and the two suitcases, all of which come into stark focus the moment the two of them discuss what the kid’s name will be. Clearly, as the cover of the Playbill tells us, the name chosen is Caroline.
This mother-child team brings to mind a similar family of two, in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” where Monterey, California, emerges as the dream destination. Maddie and Caroline have a far greater need to dream of a better place to live since they’re presently stuck in West Virginia. They’re soon on the road to see Maddie’s mother (Amy Landecker), and her home in Evanston, Illinois, looms as a safe legal haven for Caroline.
But is it?
Allen’s play could well be a screenplay, and the set design by Lee Jellinek provides the restaurant, two very different bedrooms, an upscale kitchen and a comfy living room for the characters to move across. The nicer environs belong to Maddie’s own mother, who hasn’t seen her daughter for a few years even though Maddie is now only 25 years old. It is not a happy homecoming, and Landecker is superb at making us feel everything that went down a decade ago between this daughter and mother. With a lesser actor, Maddie’s mother could come off as a stereotypical villain. The character’s judgment of her daughter and grandchild provoked audible gasps of outrage from the MCC audience. Landecker’s nuanced performance, however, actually makes a valid case for this character’s apparent rigidity. We should not forget that grandmother and Caroline are meeting for the first time, and the granddaughter sports an injured arm.
Moretz has the far showier role. Unlike Landecker, she’s given big emotional scenes that show off her acting chops, which are considerable. But most remarkable is a scene late in the play where Moretz must submerge all those feelings to explain calmly a most difficult decision to Caroline.
Which brings this review to River Lipe-Smith. If I’ve ever seen a more accomplished performance from a child actor on stage, I can’t think of it. Over and over again, this young actor delivers a zinger with the comic timing of a veteran stand-up comic. It’s one of the great things about Allen’s writing and Cromer’s direction: They know how to win an audience’s sympathy not through tears but laughter.
