The Prancing Horse
Written by Richard Lay
Directed by Martin Ewens
Abingdon Arts Complex
312 West 36th Street
212-868-4444
Review by Christopher Zara
The human tendency toward compulsive behavior is one of nature's bizarre little
practical jokes. In his latest romantic drama The Prancing Horse,
playwright Richard Lay gives us a surface exploration of this behavior but
doesn't quite dig deep enough to unearth the true ugliness that triggers it.
Horse centers on three dejected souls in a second-rate Atlantic City
casino. Jimmy (Pierre O'Farrell), a Manhattan-based bone doctor and Gamblers
Anonymous refugee, comes to the casino with delusions of cracking the roulette
code. But when he lays eyes on Charlotte (Sheila Griffin), a young showgirl from
Iowa whose dreams of ballerina stardom have been dashed by a faulty foot, the
doc finds himself compelled to offer the girl his services and perhaps mend her
injury. Jimmy turns to Charlotte's older and wiser friend Becky (Romy Nordlinger),
the casino's resident call-girl, in hopes of finding out more about Charlotte's
elusive past. When he finally gets Charlotte to his office, however, the doc
learns everything he needs to know: namely, that the girl's real problems stem
from an ongoing bout with bulimia and a heart that yearns for her fiancé, Ed
(Chris Ford), whom she ditched back in the cornfields a few years earlier.
What hurts The Prancing Horse isn't so much its unwillingness to embrace
the self-destructive leanings of its characters, but rather its failure to make
us care about them. Lay clearly has well-formed ideas about the nature of
addiction and compulsion, but his story plays out like a rough draft, with flat
dialogue and contrived scenarios whose only purpose seems to be the ushering in
of an overly optimistic conclusion. The production is saved, thankfully, by its
performers who are able to replenish some of the depth and liveliness the story
lacks. As Charlotte, the adorable Sheila Griffin brings a quiet grace to her
character's ritualistic victimhood, and what little connection we can make with
Charlotte comes from Griffin's vulnerability. The real scene stealer, though, is
Chris Ford as the amusingly clueless Midwestern yokel, Ed, who shows up at the
casino determined to win Charlotte back. Ford's bouncy interpretation of the
small-town guy amid East Coast slickness floods the stage like a caffeinated
Woody Boyd. Still, while The Prancing Horse has its share of saving
graces, it's not quite as interesting as the luckless world it depicts.
(c)
2007 Show Business Weekly