Crystal A. Dickinson and Jess Barbagallo in The Trees. Photo by Chelcie Parry

 

The Trees

By Cammy Paglia

Agnes Borinsky’s The Trees is beyond redemption. Even with steadfast pruning and nurturing, The Trees could not take root in the most fertile soil.

Directed by Tina Satter, this play is a barren attempt to champion a myriad of sociopolitical issues. Its ludicrous premise of a tipsy brother and sister returning home to find themselves embedded in the ground of the park next door engenders vexation at the outset.

Yes, the siblings, Sheila (Crystal A. Dickinson) and David (Jess Barbagallo) take root in the soil. The opening scene depicts them coming to the realization that they cannot move. Their feet are stuck to the ground. A motley cast of characters appears around them, creating a community, if you will. However, it is all rather disjointed and confusing.

 

Crystal A. Dickinson, Danusia Trevino, and Jess Barbagallo in The Trees. Photo by Chelcie Parry

 

With the appearance of David’s ex-lover, Jared (Sean Donovan), the Polish grandmother (Danusia Trevino), Saul, the rabbi (Max Gordon Moore), a vendor and a variety of friends and strangers who are there to witness and intervene for this human—tree phenomenon, which has hit all of the news media, one gets lost in the incongruous mix. Even more fantastical, Sheila gives birth to the rabbi’s child. Gadzooks! The couple has found love.  

Borinsky is grasping at straws. She flounders at trying to make statements about too many issues which include, but are not limited to, the value of community, environmentalism, and the tyranny of capitalist greed—the park is slated to be torn down to make way for the construction of a mall.

There is one scene where the special effects, showing a beautiful sky, thanks to scenic designer Parker Lutz and lighting designer Thomas Dunn, are a pleasant respite from the ordeal of watching this excruciating farce.

 

Max Gordon Moore and Crystal A. Dickinson in The Trees. Photo by Chelcie Parry

As the Rabbi, Max Gordon Moore’s acting bore the most fruit in an otherwise extremely infertile performance.  Xander Fenyes (the little boy who played Ezra, Sheila and David’s son) has great promise as the stage presence of this little actor was a sheer delight in an otherwise dull presentation.

This play will not make your evening if you are looking for a wonderful -- or even a simply pleasant -- theatre experience. This play is a lumberjack’s dream. It would be fair game to dispatch Paul Bunyan and let him have a go at The Trees.

Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater
416 West 42 Street
New York, NY 10036

Masks Required

Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 7pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm, Sundays at 2:30pm at 7:30pm.

Through March 19, 2023
Run Time 1 hour and 45 Minutes (with no Intermission)

For Tickets call: (212) 279 4200 or email: tickets@ phnyc.org

https://my.playwrightshorizons.org/events?_ga=2.134622450.2020677495.1677774358-1246026186.1677512263