Oh just a random note. A friend took me to see Grey Gardens on Tuesday night and I’ve gotta say I really liked it. But maybe it was just being dazzled by all the pretty lights and the elaborate set and all the bells & whistles. I didnt see the version at Playwrights but according to the Times this version has a tighter script and “The focus is now more cleanly on an unending, paralyzingly ambivalent struggle between a mother and a daughter.” That just about sums it up.

I’ve been seeing a lot of brutal family drama lately. In the BAiT festival at P.S.122 all four plays deal, on some level, with family drama in surreal and unexpected ways. Women Dreamt Horses and Panic are an interesting study in contrasts. Women is on a sparse set and the actors literally wrestle with each other as they fight over family history and personal problems. Panic is a crazy, surreal, slapstick comedy almost, but examines some of the same ground – the internecine warfare of family life.

Downstairs “A KINGDOM, A COUNTRY OR A WASTELAND, IN THE SNOW” and “EX ANTWONE” also offer contrasting portrayals of familial conflict, but in a more intimate -almost claustrophobic – setting.

All four shows are really powerful and well-written. So. Um. Come see them. More info HERE.