BURN THIS It would be nice if there were more to think about during Lanford Wilson’s much heralded revival of Burn This than Ty Burrell. But when a play is so ploddingly plotted, the mind is going to wander. And it might as well wander to the eye candy. Not that Burrell is only eye candy and can’t act. He can.
Along with fellow supporting cast member, Dallas Roberts, he’s the meat and potatoes in this show. Hot celebs Elizabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) and Peter Sarsgaard (Boys Don’t Cry) are supposed to be drawing the crowds. Maybe they will. Shue is pretty. But the story of a choreographer who loses her best gay friend to a boating accident and then falls in love with his alcoholic, reckless brother is weird, to say the least.
Should she love this crazy man? Did she love her best friend (who is never seen)? Why would she leave her perfect, writer boyfriend played by Ty Burrell? My only theory is that straight people must see something they recognize in the horrible characters on stage, in the gay best friend, in the cool/seedy/fantasy loft. More likely what is on stage is an unfortunate fantasy for a lot of tourists who are paying top dollar to pretend they are maddeningly in love with the wrong man? Who knows.
Signature Theater Production at the Union Square Theatre, 100 East 17th Street. Ticketmaster: 212.307.4100
