No matter how confused you may be, do not leave Barbecue after the first act. All will be explained in Act Two, even if the explanation may be a little far out. Scenes intercut between two families of siblings, one black, the other white. The names of the characters are the same, as is the cheap, colorful clothing they wear (although I will admit a certain longing for a pair of those spangled sneakers).
The setting is lovely, a forest of trees in a bucolic public park; there are two well-worn blue picnic tables, and twin somewhat beat up looking grills. But it’s all a setup to get Barbara, one of the sisters, lured to the spot for an intervention. The plan is to send her to a restful place in Alaska, where she’ll get yoga classes, and “equine therapy.” But there’s more than a little trepidation about what the woman they call “Zippedy Boom” will feel about the idea of curing her addiction. She’s known to be violent; not so incidentally, nearly her entire family is hooked on some form of destructive crutch, be it marijuana, cigarettes, alcohol, or pills. It’s impossible to relate how the situation resolves without giving away the essential twist in the play. Suffice it to say that there is a Beyoncé-type character who is hell-bent on achieving her goal at any cost, some interesting revelations, and a page torn from Oprah’s Book Club. You may or may not find this a funny show; the audience howled with laughter at the performance I attended. What can be said is that the seats at the Newman Theater are as close to heavenly as you can get. In fact, the entire complex has been masterfully renovated. The Public Theater has long been a venerated New York cultural institution. Now, it’s also a gorgeous showplace for the City.
