Review: “Maybe Tomorrow” at FringeNYC 2015
David Roberts
Based on the true story of a woman who was found stuck on her boyfriend’s toilet after sitting on it for two years in Ness County, Kansas, “Maybe Tomorrow” takes the premise of the meta-theatrical experience into the realm of a stunning psychological study of delusional behavior, the processes of collusion, and the consequences of controlling behavior. Playwright Max Mondi’s complex play might also be about marriage, fame, and a toilet but only in a secondary fashion.
Unable to cope with her marriage to Ben (Harrison Unger), arts-and-crafts entrepreneur Gail (Jennifer Bareilles) retreats to the bathroom of their trailer making it her “pause room” populated by her mantras “maybe tomorrow” and “I’ll figure it out.” From the relative safety of the toilet and her initial attempts to venture into the rest of the trailer, Gail manages to get pregnant, run her arts and crafts trailer-front store, and adjust to the move to New Jersey where Ben has landed a new job as a luxury car salesperson.
After the move, Gail retreats to the toilet and her “pause room” full-time, seemingly abandoning Ben and the new baby. At this point, it would appear that Gail is “suffering” from a psychotic disorder with hallucinations and that Ben had decided to collude with Gail’s “disorder” since it is the happiest he has ever seen her. But perhaps Gail just prefers “real” time and space and prefers to talk to a real audience (not a hallucination) and is colluding with Ben who is perhaps the delusional one thinking Gail sees no one and that they are simply actors in a play that is accountable to the convention of a fourth wall. Only when the reader attends a performance of “Maybe Tomorrow” can she or he decide if there is a baby beyond the bathroom.
Photography by Al Foote III
Harrison Unger’s and Jennifer Bareilles’ strong commitment to Mr. Mondi’s complex and dense writing pays off. “Maybe Tomorrow” engages the audience in a rollercoaster ride that explores ego strength and the arrogance of diagnostic protocols that categorize the intricacies of what is considered mental illness. The title raises a variety of enduring and rich questions about life, love, and the thing we call theatre. Can two human beings make sense of marriage, money, and parenting? Does one member of a couple have the right to define for the other what life style she or he can assume? What defines ‘theatre’ in the twenty-first century? Are there theatrical conventions yet to be discovered and explored on stage? Why can the $18.00 FringeNYC performance of “Maybe Tomorrow” raise more important questions than any $150.00 (plus or minus) show currently running on Broadway?
Mr. Modi's challenging play also comments on the nature of the theatre itself and the assumed lack of realism and question (successfully) what is or what is not “permitted” in playwriting or on the stage. For example in a play where one member of the cast is sitting on a toilet should the audience be invited by the venue manager to visit the “real” bathroom at any time during the performance?
Tomer Adorian’s direction is meticulous, generous, and refreshing and allows Harrison Unger (Ben) and Jennifer Bareilles (Gail) room to explore Max Mondi’s script with impressive craft and commitment to authenticity. “Maybe Tomorrow” is one thing the reader should not put off until tomorrow. Take a break from the “pause room” and purchase tickets today.
MAYBE TOMORROW
“Maybe Tomorrow” is presented by The New York International Fringe Festival and The Poet Acts, Inc. at Under St. Marks, 94 St. Marks Place (1st and Avenues A).
All performances of “Maybe Tomorrow” take place at on the following schedule: Friday August 21st at 7:45 p.m.; Sunday August 23rd at 1:15 p.m.; and Saturday August 29th at 1:15 p.m. Tickets are $18.00 at the door and $15.00 for advance purchase. The running time is 1 hour and 20 minutes. For more information about the show and the cast and creative team, please visit http://www.maybetomorrowtheplay.com/. For more information about the 19th Annual New York Fringe Festival visit www.FringeNYC.org.