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Claire Danes Shines In “Dry Powder”, The Play Itself Is Underwhelming

Written by

Lacy Langley

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Claire Danes, if the reviews are to be believed, saves the clunking new play by Sarah Burgess, Dry Powder.

The play centers around Claire Danes as a cold-hearted corporate executive, Jenny, and her nemesis and colleague, Seth, played by John Krasinski.

Claire Danes’ and Krasinski’s characters each come up with a way to save their company from a PR nightmare brought on by a round of layoffs and a simultaneous extravagant engagement party thrown by their boss.

Claire Danes’ Jenny wants to buy, shell and sell a new company for profit, PR be damned. Krasinski’s wants to put effort into the new company and deal with the PR fiasco by keep the company local, keeping all of the employees and growing it.

According to one New York Post reviewer, “Happily, Claire Danes (Homeland), John Krasinski (The Office) and Hank Azaria (probably best known for voicing Moe, Apu and Chief Wiggum on The Simpsons) don’t embarrass themselves in Dry Powder — and there’s nowhere to hide, since the show’s staged in the round.”

The reviewer added, “Sarah Burgess’ play, on the other hand, doesn’t quite rise to the level of its deluxe cast and director (Thomas Kail, of Hamilton).”

The play was simply, well, meh. That is, if most reviews are accurate of such a subjective thing.

One read, “Most people, I’d think, have already heard plenty about private-equity investors who live the high life while buying up companies and firing workers to cut costs.”

It went on, “That’s the territory trod by Sarah Burgess’s play, which opened Tuesday night at the Public Theater. It’s well-acted and not uninteresting in its detailing of high-finance deals, but you keep wondering: Why are you telling me this again?”

After explaining the plot and characters in a little more depth, the review ends, “The play’s impact, though, can be measured by its climax. Everything has been leading up to the Big Decision: Whose plan will Rick choose? When the answer comes, it’s worth a shrug. Nothing has been established that makes the outcome matter.”

Ouch.

Would you still like to see Claire Danes on stage, even though the reviews aren’t spectacular?

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