Theater Review By Carole Di Tosti . . .
Material possessions can interfere with healthy family relationships. This is especially so for Sam (Danny DeVito), a “quasi-hoarder” with a purpose, and daughter Amelia (real-life daughter Lucy DeVito), in the world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s I Need That. Acutely directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the sparkling 100-minute comedy, I Need That, is presented by Roundabout Theatre Company through December 30 at the American Airlines Theater.
As the curtain opens on Alexander Dodge’s well-thought-out, rubbish-heap living room, swamped with piles of books, magazines, clothing, and dishes, the award-winning Danny DeVito emerges like a phantom from his hidden cocoon under blankets to answer the banging at the door. The audience applauds the beloved actor’s return to Broadway, as he welcomes Foster (Ray Anthony Thomas), Sam’s friend, who tells him it is two o’clock. DeVito’s Sam chides him for waking him so early in the morning.
Foster replies as a curmudgeon of equals that it is the afternoon. Indeed, Sam, who quips that Ambien “really works,” is out of place and out of time. This is the thrust of Rebeck’s three-hander of readjustment and resettlement. How will Amelia and Foster drag Sam back into reality to live his best years? It is a tall order for Sam, who is entrenched in the past and glued to an admixture of emotions he cannot release.
For three years he has shuttered himself in his hoarder’s paradise of memorabilia and fragments of memories, regrets and sorrows. As the mystery unfolds about Sam’s condition, we discover that he views the debris from the past as endearing touchstones of his life with his wife. She suffered from Alzheimer’s, then disappeared into Death’s slow embrace.
Though Sam is stuck, time progresses around him and waits for no one. Thus, while Sam and Foster share breakfast and slips of information about aging, including drinking enough water, eating vegetables and staying strong and fit, daughter Amelia knocks at the door. Her visit upsets Sam, who tells Foster not to let her in. Sam knows why she has come, and he doesn’t want to “deal” with her. However, Foster, the good friend that he is, lets Amelia in and the continuing battle between father and daughter escalates. Through Amelia, we learn about Sam’s precarious situation.
If someone dropped a match in Sam’s living room, the place would go up like tinder in a New York minute. That is impressive for a house in New Jersey, where Sam lives. Indeed, his neighbor, who spied on Sam and took pictures of the interior debacle, used her intelligence gathering to inform various government agencies. Sam has received numerous letters warning him to “straighten out” his living arrangements or be evicted.
Ironically, he has thrown out these warning letters because they hold no value. When Amelia confronts him, he does dig out one letter from under the mountains of memories to share with Foster and his daughter. Interestingly, like many hoarders, though Sam denies he has a problem, he seems to know where everything is. He insists he has his situation under control because each piece of flotsam has its own place. That justification and his cleanliness defy the “chaotic mess” condemnation that others use, especially his neighbor and the fire department.
Lucy DeVito’s Amelia is beside herself with worry. Foster’s chiming in about helping Sam “throw things out,” those dreaded words every hoarder does not want to hear, falls on Sam’s deaf ears. Clearly, Amelia and Foster have played this loop before and are tired of repeating themselves in the circularity of Sam’s resistance. He won’t move off the grooves in his heart.
Rebeck’s point clarifies. Sometimes, emotional remembrances are too painful to work through. Sometimes, it is easier to bury them and sink deeper and deeper within “their reality,” rather than confront a past that can never return again.
Themes about loss, living in the past, burying regrets and obviating the present ring with profound truth and humanity that we all can identify with. Indeed, though Rebeck couches her themes with humor, and Danny DeVito shines as he teases out the riotous laughs, Sam’s condition is dire. Perhaps, it is more universal than we would like to admit.
Sam’s inability to distinguish between the treasures worth keeping and the shattered bits worthy of being tossed has brought him to the brink of a symbolic death. Do individuals escape this morass? Can Sam change and reconcile with his daughter, or will he end up a ward of the state, evicted from his home which he has made a danger to himself and his neighbors?
DeVito is the superb centerpiece in Rebeck’s profound comedy, and Lucy DeVito is his fine counterpart. Ray Anthony Thomas is the surprising foil in a subplot that Rebeck weaves, elevating Sam’s goodness and prompting Sam to reevaluate his life.
Moritz von Stuelpnagel directs with precision. The creative team has effected his vision to balance the humor and poignancy. The team includes Tilly Grimes (costume design), Yi Zhoo (lighting design), Fitz Patton, Bradlee Ward (sound design), Tommy Kurzman (hair & makeup design), and Fitz Patton (original music).
This is a must-see, especially for DeVito’s performance. In one segment he plays the board game Sorry. Gobsmacking!
I Need That. Through December 30 at the American Airlines Theater (227 West 42nd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues). www.roundabouttheatre.org
Photos: Joan Marcus
Cover photo caption: Ray Anthony Thomas, Danny DeVito and Lucy DeVito
