What Mr. Guare seems to be after is a dramaturgy that is absurdist not for its own sake but as a kind of last-ditch naturalism, replicating the absurdity of actual life with all its serendipities, hyperlinks, potholes and misprisions. [What’s new onstage and off: Sign up for our Theater Update newsletter]That’s not a great environment for audiences — or actors — to thrive in. Mr. Guare is 81, and while “Nantucket Sleigh Ride” is hardly valedictory, it does betray doubts about ongoing fecundity. “Nantucket Sleigh Ride,” it seems to me, is simply a story that didn’t want to be caught. Even the title seems to know it: It’s a local term for what happens when a whaler harpoons a whale.

Source: New York Times March 19, 2019 01:41 UTC