Review: The Book Club Play

In keeping with Swine Palace’s tradition of showcasing century-spanning theatre, from Mary Shelley’s monstrous Germany to Arthur Miller’s Middle America, the little theatre on LSU’s campus again paid heed to the changing times with the premiere performance of The Book Club Play on Wednesday, April 22.

Directed by George Judy and written by Mexican-born playwright Karen Zacarías, the two-hour play introduces its characters as they convene for their monthly book club, a source of great pride for its high-strung co-founder, Ana. Her husband, Rob, has hardly read a book since grade school, but he stays for the food and the chance to hang out with his old college roommate, Will, who cherishes the classics. Lily, a new editor at Ana’s newspaper, reads from her iPhone and says what she wants; while Jen forgets about her legal job to escape into Victorian romances. Tastes clash and come to a boil when Alex, a comparative literature professor, joins the club, to Ana’s despair, and professes deep insight into a certain sparkling vampire.

Amidst this chaos of clashing personalities, Book Club also nods to a recent phenomenon used to dissect it—reality television. The audience acts as an unheard player in the script, taking on the role of the camera set up by fictional director Lars Kudsen to record the club for a documentary-in-progress. The final result is a show designed for theatre, centered on literature, and analyzed through the lens of film, a multi-media combination familiar to young audiences balancing social networks.

And the audience was young. The Reilly Theatre welcomed a full house to its black box stage, which seemed to have doubled in size thanks to resourceful set design. Characters moved from the couch to the kitchen to the liquor cart, hiding their sneers, disparaging next week’s book selection, or admitting secrets hidden from the rest of the club, all without leaving the main action.

Swine Palace’s actors, too, performed their sneers and secrets with immense talent and humor. Anthony McMurrary’s Will elicited guffaws from the front row after only his first line; his remaining bon mots continued to deliver quirks and comedy too often denied the other characters. Hart Adams’ Lily comes in at a close second as a master of comic timing, while Amanda Clark is a chameleon of several off-screen “pundits” in some of the funniest scenes in the show.

Regardless of humor, there is a heart to this sitcom, and it beats in the underused subtlety of exchanges about high and low culture, the immortality of good characters, and the way we project ourselves into carefully crafted narratives—whether in the real world or the literary one. In one telling moment between Ava and Jen stemming from divergent opinions, Ava says of the matter at hand, “I’m surprised you feel so different about this.” “Me, too,” Jen answers, hinting at the transformative nature of finding a book you love.

To enter the story, purchase tickets from swinepalace.org or at the door in Reilly Theatre on LSU’s Tower Drive. $15–$30. The Book Club Play runs April 23—May 2 at 7:30 pm, and April 26 and May 3 at 2 pm. Due to mild language and adult situations, adults should use caution if bringing children.