In Dedication, or The Stuff of Dreams, Terence McNally's thoughts about theater and the human condition, now at Primary Stages , are played out and soliloquized on the stage of a crumbled old theater. The incomparable Nathan Lane speaks for McNally, and his monologues work because it's Lane. Rock-star daughter (Miriam Shor) of Nathan's partner/wife (the marvelous Alison Fraser, whose impeccable comic timing balances Lane's perfectly) arrives with punk boyfriend/assistant (the startling Darren Pettie), and finally the incomparable Marion Seldes, as the dying owner of the theater, enters with her mournful servant (R.E. Rogers).
For a plot counterpoint, there's Michael Countryman as tech-director/suitor. Hilarious, outrageous laughter rocks the theater when Lane and Seldes interact. There's not a moment in this play that won't hold you, with cancer, life and death and ethics stirred into the mix. Direction by Michael Morris is meticulous, and the set (Narelle Sissons), costumes (Laura Crow), lighting (Jeff Croiter), and wigs (Paul Huntley) all work well to enhance this melodrama with a twist ending that questions morality with a great sense of theatricality. You don't want to miss this one.
