'The Break of Noon,' by Neil LaBute, takes on God
(l-r) David Duchovny and Tracee Chimo in a scene from MCC Theater's The Break of Noon" directed by Jo Bonney at the Lucille Lortel Theatre . Written by: Neil LaBute Cast List: David Duchovny, Amanda Peet , John Earl Jelks Photo by Joan Marcus Credit: Joan Marcus Photo/
Neil LaBute gets religious on us - or does he? - in "The Break of Noon," the latest from the famously devious and prolific playwright at MCC Theater, where he is playwright-in-residence.
LaBute, who has evolved from our bracingly unrepentant bad-boy playwright to a less reliable dark star of redemptive morality plays, aims for the big plot twist - God and faith - in the 95-minute drama.
How sly to cast David Duchovny, himself a quick-minded and appealing celebrity bad boy, to play a character named John Smith.
John was once an everyday not-so-nice guy. He used to lie and cheat on his wife and bully the weak at the office. Yet, he is the only one alive when a gunman massacres 37 of his co-workers at the start of lunchtime. More to LaBute's point, John is not just saved but Saved. He swears the voice of God told him how to survive and to spread the word of goodness.
Duchovny, in his New York stage debut, has an appealing, sleepy face and a subtext of intelligence that make John more believable and interesting than written. From the opening monologue, however, when the shaken John talks to the police, John is far too alert and articulate for such a harrowing moment. He makes flip asides about "CSI" and how it "wasn't like a movie in there."
As directed by LaBute ace Jo Bonney, Duchovny nails the flip side but never communicates the depth of the earthshaking experience. In some ways, that is clearly intended. As John tries to convince his ex-wife (Tracee Chimo), his girlfriend (Amanda Peet) and his slick lawyer (John Earl Jelks) that he has been chosen to make them good people, we are meant to doubt him as much as they do. Ultimately, however, there must be some evangelical passion to keep us engaged in John's repetitious struggle to do good.
LaBute, once a practicing Mormon, writes in his preface to this play, "The story of a man who tries to be good but is held back by his former life seemed like an intriguing idea to me." The idea, alas, is more intriguing than the play he wrote.
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