Theater review by Stuart Miller…
In the Playbill “Who’s Who” for “Another Shot,” co-writer Harry Teinowitz’s entry ends, “’Another Shot’ tells of his addiction rehab journey; he hopes it inspires others.”
And in the “Author’s Note,” Teinowitz and co-writer Spike Manton note that rehab is rarely explored in-depth on stage or screen and they wanted to focus on “the relationships forged that were the foundation of his recovery” and “the process that was the catalyst for change.”
Those are noble sentiment and it’s certainly possible the play, directed by Jackson Gay, will serve that purpose. But its impact is repeatedly muted by the way the play skims along the surface for much of its 90 minutes, with platitudes and B-level sitcom humor filling up too short scenes that disrupt narrative momentum (and keep the actors overly busy rearranging chairs on the set).
There are some genuinely funny moments and some where the playwrights dig deeper and fully capture the human fragility and resilience that comprise the struggle for sobriety; the frantic and emotional final fifteen minutes largely fulfill the authors’ goals, but they also underscore the shortcomings of what preceded it. (If you want to watch a more intense depiction of the battle to come emotionally clean in rehab go back and watch all the “Breaking Bad” scenes when Jesse Pinkman endures that struggle.)
The play opens with Harry (Dan Butler, a successful Chicago sports radio guy getting a DUI, which leads to an intervention and Harry grudgingly going to rehab, without really acknowledging his years of alcoholism.
(Butler, best known as the sports radio guy Bulldog on “Frasier;” furthering the connection between actor and character is that in rehab, the characters are regular watchers of “Cheers,” which gave “Frasier” life. But none of that adds anything to the play and Butler’s performance, while perfectly fine, does not find any new layers for this character.)
In rehab he meets Vince (Chike Johnson), on his second go-round, who tries to look out for everyone else, perhaps as a way of deflecting his fears about his own demons; Andrea (Samantha Mathis), who grew up with a drunk and nasty mother and is on her fifth time through rehab; Isaiah (Gregg Mozgala), who is angry much of the time, and George (Quentin Nguyen-Duy), the youngest and initially the most sullen of the bunch. They’re overseen in group therapy by Barb (Portia), a former heroin addict who years ago reclaimed her life.
Portia and Johnson are the stand-outs here, making their advice sound like hard-won wisdom while their weariness and worry bear extra weight, as in the scene where Vince describes hitting rock bottom or when Barb describes how addiction has literally rewired their brains.
But the therapy scenes are so briskly paced—and we never see individual therapy or other parts of the treatment—that no stories and no part of the process is delivered in depth and the show fails to fully depict how the characters are learning or failing to learn to cope.
That said, while Harry’s character is fairly autobiographical, he actually feels like a bit of a trope, following the classic path of “I’ll joke my way through my eight weeks and be fine” until he finally learns differently. Even his past could be fleshed out more and more honestly in the group therapy sessions. It’s particularly noticeable in contrast to some of the other storylines, especially those involving Vince and George, which defy expectations, giving them extra potency.
If only the playwrights had pushed themselves as hard on the rewrites—in terms of character development but also dialogue, especially on the comedy side—as Teinowitz must have in real life while he was in rehab. Still, it’s both fantastic and impressive that Teinowitz has gotten—and stayed—sober. That is no easy feat. And if his play helps someone else down that path then it will have succeeded in its goals no matter its dramatic shortcomings.
“Another Shot” is playing at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Theatre (480 West 42nd Street) and runs through January 4. It runs 90 minutes.
