Dreyfuss and Lahti shine in dim ‘Hotels’
By Jennifer Richmond
Daily Bruin Staff
Jon Robin Baitz’s "Three Hotels," the Mark Taper’s newest
production, proves once again that just because you have great
actors doesn’t mean you have a great play.
While both Richard Dreyfuss and Christine Lahti give wonderful
emotion-filled performances, Baitz’s script never gets off the
ground. It’s filled with clichés, numerous redundancies and
drags constantly. And that’s just in Part One.
The production takes place in three separate hotel rooms, hence
the name, and follows Kenneth and Barbara Hoyle (Dreyfuss and Lahti
respectively) as they discuss their relationship and the effect
Kenneth’s job has had on their marriage.
Opening in a hotel in Tangier, Morocco, Kenneth is dressed in a
suit and tie going over employee files so he’ll be prepared when
they come in for their dismissal. As vice president, he was given
the job because he’s become a cold, hard-nosed businessman whose
work comes first.
Although he hates the baby formula business and the position he
finds himself in at "International Headquarters," he handles
himself with grace and gets his jabs in as much as he can.
Although these little cutting "See? I’m-better-than-you" remarks
and actions prove Dreyfuss’ amazing talent that won him an Oscar,
they don’t improve the flailing production. At one point when
Kenneth describes an upsetting conversation he had with one of his
co-workers, he says "Here’s how it happened." After all the
exposition he’s given, the first response is "Who cares?"
It’s a pointless retelling that would be better and serve the
same purpose later in the production.
This meaningless drivel is just the beginning, though. While
these expositional stories become less and less in Parts Two and
Three, Baitz never gets rid of them altogether and so ends up
literally losing his audience.
One thing Baitz is good at, however, is writing lines that
create emotion and tell a lot about his characters. Because of his
sarcastic remarks, Kenneth’s casual attitude comes across without a
hitch. He knows exactly how to push his co-workers’ buttons. His
loaded comments appear in greater numbers in Part Three in a hotel
in Mexico.
But the man in Oaxaca, Mexico, is very different from the man in
Morocco. He’s lost his wife, he’s lost his job and he’s lost his
identity. Finally, Baitz begins to write something close to
decent.
In Part Three, the deaths of Barbara and Kenneth come up in each
their monologues.
The death is first mentioned by a tearful Barbara as she
explains what this horrible job has done to her husband: a man who
she no longer recognizes as the man she fell in love with. Just
like Dreyfuss, Lahti does her best to give a stellar performance
with the tripe she’s given. And as this is her second time playing
this part, she’s had a lot of practice to get it as close to
perfect as possible, considering.
It’s obvious how she feels about the business: she loathes it
with a serious passion. And because Barbara knows how much her
husband hates it, she feels it’s time to let the cat out of the bag
and tell the new wives of the company just what kind of horrible
lifestyle awaits them. It’s one of the better moments that comes to
a head when she looks at Kenneth as he sits on the bed ignoring
her. The two can’t even communicate any more.
This disgust for the company comes full circle when Kenneth
again recounts the death of his only son and beats himself up for
not taking the time off he deserved. Kenneth decided work was more
important than comforting his distraught wife and was back in the
swing of things the very next day. He hates himself for not taking
time off to grieve and be there for his Barbara. He also knows it’s
this event that began their downward spiral into oblivion.
When Dreyfuss’ Kenneth breaks down the scene becomes very
moving. Unfortunately by this time, with only 10 to 15 minutes left
in the production, it’s too late.
STAGE: "Three Hotels." Written by Jon Robin Baitz. Directed by
Joe Mantello. Starring Richard Dreyfuss and Christine Lahti.
Running through April 30 at the Mark Taper Forum. TIX: $28 to
$35.50, with a public rush of $10 10 minutes before each show. For
more info call (213) 365-3500.