Festen is the worst thing I’ve seen in a long time. I didn’t see it in London nor have I seen the Danish film on which it’s based – but I have the feeling something's been lost in the double translation. It’s dad’s 60th birthday and a deep, dark secret is going to be revealed by one of his children at his party. Yawn. The production reminded me of a college Directing Project: multiple scenes taking place in the same space, obvious sound effects, odd blocking. As the three siblings, Michael Hayden, Jeremy Sisto and Julianna Margulies are fine and Larry Bryggman is doing the best he can as the father. And then there’s Ali MacGraw who is completely incapable of naturally delivering any line – she makes mannequins look exciting. Most disturbing of all is the racism directed towards Margulies’ character’s black boyfriend that has almost the entire cast chiming in. Broadway is always lamenting the small numbers of black audiences. Who would want to shell out $95 to listen to poor Keith Davis being called a monkey? May Festen not be around long enough to find out.
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