The Lost Lake @ New York City Center Stage 1

We all want to be seen and to be heard. And those of us who need it most are often the ones who are least likely to get it. We’re cold, or prickly, or dirty, or losers at life as society defines it. Lost Lake by David Auburn and directed by Daniel Sullivan, starring John Hawkes and Tracie Thoms is an “and, and, and, and” paying tribute to that bittersweet irony. Together, this team of seasoned and award-winning performers and enablers, demonstrate the often gritty nature that we, as mere mortals, can be reduced to when faced with our own insufficiencies. Interestingly enough, it is in that reduction that we often find the very thing we so desperately need- a cup of coffee and a donut offered to us by a friendly face with a willing ear. Such has become the state of things in our society, where the quest for better and more has replaced what is meaningful and sincere.

The set design by J. Michael Griggs is special. People actually walked slowly past the stage as they exited the theater, commenting upon it as they might the storefront window displays of the department stores during the holiday season.

Don’t go see this show to be entertained. Yes, you will giggle at times and laugh at others. But rather go because we all have moments when we feel unworthy, and unloved, wishing desperately for someone who will stand in the gap, taking us from our most base nature to a place of principled peace, where we can foster relationships that provide hope that we can be better than what we are at the moment.

I love the shows that Manhattan Theatre Club puts out- they are often painfully and acutely astute in their revelation of the tragic loss that is the human condition. I know we here in the US would all like to think life is wonderful, but behind closed doors, it’s filled with heartache within merely one degree of separation. The goal really ought to be to close the gap.

Lost Lake opened November 11 and will be running through December 21 at the New York City Center.

Review By: Michele Seven
Photo By: Joan Marcus