✭Matinée Wednesday: Round Fourteen…
In early 2009, my mom bought tickets to a series of shows produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company. The first was this show, Distracted, starring Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City fame. (The next two entries in this series will cover those shows: Waiting For Godot and The Philanthropist). This was an off-Broadway production which was performed at the Laura Pels Theatre.
Distracted is about a couple coping with their “distracted” child, who ends up being diagnosed with ADHD. The production was very good, although tedious at times. There was a real sense of frustration that the parenting duo shared with the audience. Trying to discover their child’s ailment and facing set-back after set-back, jolted the movement of the play. Watching it was like sitting in stop-and-go traffic. At points, you really felt that we were making headway. And at others, you began to feel that headache of frustration creeping in under your temple.
Cynthia Nixon was the one of the few redeeming qualities of the production. She is a great actress, hands down. Sure, she can strut around in designer heels and screw half of Manhattan as Miranda Hobbes, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, serious acting business, she is a professional through and through. Bottom line for the production: If the director was trying to make the audience feel as frustrated and lost as the parental units, mission accomplished.
