124 newyork| december9–22, 2019
manytheater loverswill
tellyouthattheaterisa church.
Wegather.We worship.We hopethere
willbecookiesaftertheservice.Andofall
our thousand playwrights, Will Eno
seems most like an actual country
pastor—hehasthat twinklinggravityand
“myotheroutfit isa cassock”vibe.More
important,hisplayshavethequality ofa
sermon,inthatthey seemlike timeset
asidetodoseriousthinkingaboutexis-
tence. They haveweight. Evenin his
strangest,most absurd works,there’stypi-
cally a message about the duty of care.
The last production Eno had in New
York was the wry and metaphysical revival
of his Beckettian Thom Pain (based on
nothing). Before that, it was the wry and
metaphysical production of his Sartre-in-
suburbia meditation Wakey, Wakey. It will
not surprise you,then,
that The Underlying
Chris, at SecondStage,
is wry and metaphysi-
cal. Here, though,Eno
has backed wellaway
from those previousTHEATER/ HELENSHAW
ChildrenofAllAgesTheunderstatedcharmsofTheUnderlyingChris.THE UNDERLYING
CHRIS
BY WILL ENO.
SECOND STAGE
THEATER.
THROUGH
DECEMBER 15.
learned about social justice and dance
music as world travelers. The game-win-
ning play is making sure this shit sounds
archetypally like Coldplay. The other
smart move is bringing in voices from
other cultures. Input from British musi-
cians and choirs, vocals from Belgian
singer Stromae, a tribute to the Iranian
poet Saadi, and a song by the late Scottish
singer- songwriter Scott Hutchison of
Frightened Rabbit make Everyday Life
feel like a travelogue or a town hall. Chris
Martin breaks the traditions of his woke-
savior predecessors in stadium rock with
a record that tries to give everyone a seat
at the table, that sacrifices hit potential
for the sake of a message he believes in.
It’s a big bang for a band believed to be
dead or dying. ■Sometimesit’shardertolikesomeonethanit is tolovethemWRITTENBY
GEORGEEASTMAN
DIRECTEDBY
KARENCARPENTER
TONY® AWARD WINNER SWEENEY TODD
LEN CARIOU
TONY® AWARD NOMINEE THE MUSIC MAN
CRAIG BIERKO
DENNIS GRIMALDI PRESENTS
“Touching & hilariously funny.”- Broadway World
NewYorkCityCenterStageII, 131 W.55thSt.
NYCITYCENTER.org | 212-581-1212
HarryTownsendsLastStand.comPhotos: Maria Baranova