BILLMcMAHON 

COVER at the Midtown International Theater Festival, July 2014

 

David and Zan, a young Westchester married couple and Peter and Beth, a married couple in their late 40s collide in a fragile foursome in Bill McMahon’s new “Cover” currently running in NYC at part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival. What happens in this refreshing play might not “make sense” to any of the four characters; however, they each come to understand they “are in the middle of something” important – and that something has everything to do with love and becoming honest with themselves and their true identity and status.

All four characters are living under cover to some degree and it is in the careful maintenance of those covers that each preserves a center and each experiences a defining moment that jeopardizes their zones of safety and comfort. David (Max Rhyser) finds safety in Peter (Tony Travostino) the older man who serves as a healthy ersatz father (his own father was abusive and distant) and a fulfilling partner in love and sex. Their relationship provides cover for his disappointing and unfulfilled relationship with his "wound-as-tight-as-a-mummy" wife Zan (whose only surcease is a daily dose of Xanax and other prescription psychotropic drugs. 

Peter’s cover is his strong professional exterior that shelters him from his fears of getting older and his disdain for his wife Beth. Beth’s (Karin de la Penha) cover is her successful career in acquisitions and divestments, a juicy trope for the way Beth deals with professional and relationship “clients” including her husband and sons. Zan’s (Olivia Mell) cover is her co-dependent behavior and her need to be cared for.

Bill McMahon’s script is disarmingly complex. The relatively accessible story of boy meets man, man leaves wife, and boy struggles with leaving girl is the softer side of the plot with an underbelly barnacled with intrigue, years of layered fear and disappointment, and a ground-breaking glimpse into the real meaning of falling in love. When they first meet at the train station, David and Peter have no idea what missing the 4:55 can unleash.

When they ask one another, “What if neither of us is what we thought we were,” they understand that “they will work it out.” Their relationship is a complicated and rich process and under Paul J. Michael’s careful and sensitive direction, David and Peter do attempt to understand their identities, sexual and ideological. After David realizes they have blown their cover and both Beth and Zan know of their affair, Peter wants David to live with him and announces he “would die for him.”

This is not a love story but a story about love. Who we love, why we love, how we love, when we love and the puzzling consequences love can inflict on the participants. The story is non-judgmental, places no stereotypical labels, holds no accusations, and realizes that authentic love might be involuntary and unintentional. One conclusion that is clear that when you acquiesce to love, everything will change and nothing can ever be the same.

Max Rhyser shows a precise, honest, assiduous David, who is young, confused and might just be in love with love. Tony Travostino creates a cautious, wounded, vulnerable Peter who is fully capable of battle when necessary and surrender when inherent. Karin de la Penha is ice cold as Beth but is so competent of melting away her frigid exterior with subtle warmth from within when needed. Olivia Mell is broken, delusional and paranoid as Zan but is quick to beguile to conquer her needs. These four actors are solely remarkable and as an ensemble they are fierce force that ignites the stage. Prepare to hear more about “Cover” in the not-so-distant future.

David Roberts and Joseph Verlezza, Theatre Reviews Limited

 

 

Why do fools fall in love? How do people find each other? These questions permeate Bill McMahon’s provocative new play, Cover. Produced in a three-quarters round intimate space on 36th Street, this play sucks you in with its charm and wit. McMahon’s characters vulnerability is their strength and their innocence is captivating.

Similar to Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers find each other one morning while waiting for a train. But there’s one big twist; it’s two men, “heterosexual”men, that find each other. And then we watch a surprising and unlikely love story form between this couple. David and Peter, (peter is 20 years David’s senior) are just as taken back as we are by the situation they find themselves in. Watching them negotiate the nuances of an intimate relationship is something we can all relate too. And just as we think they will ride into the proverbial sunset, we realize there’s just one thing in their way; their wives”. Much of the second half of the play deals with the aftermath and consequences of David and Peter’s affair.

In a vulnerable play, and especially in an intimate venue, there’s is no room to hide and you can’t fake emotion. These actors are stunning in their own right and serve the play extremely well. Max Rhyser plays the wide-eyed, lost puppy, David with such honesty that when we witness the loss of his innocence we are heart-broken. Rhyser takes us along on his journey and we are grateful that he did. His counterpart, Tony Travostino, plays Peter. Travostino’s hard exterior that melts as the affair and play progress, is remarkable. We believe both of them at every turn, which makes it hard to hate that these men are cheating on their wives. Peter’s wife, Beth, is played by the incomable Karin de la Penha. Penha had taken some years off from acting, and after her striking performance we wonder why she ever left the stage. Olivia Mell, plays Zan, David’s wife. Her descent into despair after she learns of David’s infidelity is palpable.

My only slight qualm with the production is it’s episodic structure. Many of the scenes in the beginning of the play are very short and the transitions between them take too long. This makes it hard for the audience to truly gain momentum and enter the world of the play until the first 15 minutes or so. But when we do connect with the play, we are fully engaged and emotionally available to experience everything that the play has to offer. It’s a shame that this production is over. After seeing it, it was clear that we unCovered a great piece of theater!

TheaterThatMatters.com