James Braly has a particularly wicked grin. His lips sort of curl up when he smiles and his eyes, behind thin wire-rimmed glasses, twinkle with a sort of knowing irony, or maybe it's just weariness with some of the curveballs that he's been thrown in his life. Particularly his marriage, which is, not surprisingly, the subject of Life In A Marital Institution, his solo show that opened last night at the Soho Playhouse after an acclaimed run earlier this year at 59E59 Theaters.
Braly's piece actually runs to parallels tracks. In between his anecdotes about his courtship, engagement and marriage, he describes his sister's final days in a hospice in Texas, where she has hastily arranged wedding ceremony to her Australian surfer dude, rock star boyfriend. Braly's dual-line of familial story-telling seems to be aimed at communicating just one thing: "Hey, it's love. Don't try to explain it. Don't try to understand it. Just roll with the surreal punches it gives you."
From both his own and his sister's experiences, Braly certainly is qualified to deliver such a marriage. For instance, he became enamored (captivated? hooked?) on the woman whom he's married on their first meeting. She sat down next to him in a coffee shop where he was working on a poem. She asked to read it, and promptly began making edits in red pen. He got her number, but it took 3 weeks to reach her (no call waiting) and when he finally got through, she wondered what had taken him so long. During their engagement, couples counseling (described in particularly hilarious detail) was needed, and well, after marriage, his wife's methods of child-birth and rearing are certainly worthy of the epithet "unconventional."
As for his sister's marriage (to a guy everyone else in his family hates), there's speculation that he might have arranged it simply because it would mean he'd have access to her trust fund. Yet, even as tempers flare in the hospice, you sense that this really is just a smokescreen. These two do love one another.
Braly shares these stories (and many more) with gentle wryness and self-deprecating humor. He's the first to admit that he's not perfect (witness his temptation by an exotically beautiful woman), which means that his ability to zero in on the absurdities of his life and his wife never feels cruel or vindictive.
Under director Hal Brooks' astute guidance, Braly's monologue unfolds with both theatricality (lighting designer Lucrecia Briceno creates a variety of moods and locales with graceful minimalism) and a sort of casual ease that makes you feel as if you're not so much watching a play, but rather have just meant a particularly funny, and wise, guy at a cocktail party. It's a charming, and occasionally hilarious, night out.
---- Andy Propst
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Life In A Marital Institution plays at the Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam Street). Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3 and 7pm. Tickets are $40-$55 and can be purchased by calling 212-691-1555 or by visiting www.sohoplayhouse.com. Further information is available online at www.LifeInAMaritalInstitution.com.
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