Producer-director George W. Manus Jr. continues his pledge to ride the dramatic edge with his Out Front on Main company in the ’Boro, presenting this Lanford Wilson work. Set in the bohemian art world of New York City, it tells of two outcasts who meet in the wake of the accidental death of a mutual friend. Wilson, who recently passed away at the age of 73, was a major figure in the off-off-Broadway movement and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1980 for
Talley’s Folly, though other works, such as
Balm in Gilead (1965),
The Hot L Baltimore (1973) and
Fifth of July (1978) are almost equally well known.
Burn This is a later work (1987), but the author’s characteristic dedication to internal human conflict and emotional honesty is well in play. The cast features Buddy Jones, Justin Hand, Ryan T. Daniel and Megan Blevins, who starred with distinction in this company’s earthy production of David Rabe’s In the
Boom Boom Room last fall.
— Martin Brady