ROULETTE
At the John Houseman Theatre, 450 W. 42nd St. Call Telecharge, (212) 239-6200.
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A zany, surreal comedy needs to observe the world from an odd vantage point.
In “Betty’s Summer Vacation,” Christopher Durang’s brilliant play, a tract of Long Island beach is transformed into a sandy stretch of hell. In “Kimberley Akimbo,” David Lindsay-Abaire twists New Jersey into the Garden State of madness.
That’s the problem with “Roulette,” the new dark comedy by Paul Weitz. It seems only halfway there. The vision of suburbia doesn’t draw us in.
As clumsily directed by Trip Cullman, an efficient suburban father (Larry Bryggman) begins each day by playing Russian roulette. We never really learn why. He has a crisp wife (Leslie Lyles), a troubled son (Shawn Hatosy) and a punky daughter (Anna Paquin).
The wife is having an affair with a dumb neighbor (Mark Setlock), who has a wacky, intrusive wife (Ana Gasteyer). The various threads of the play don’t connect and the talented cast is only OK.
Weitz, who co-directed the “American Pie,” is evidently determined to expose the underside of the American suburban fantasy in “Roulette.” It doesn’t work. The play merely reveals Weitz’s narrative hopelessness.
Dark farce is not easy.