Some people are convinced that they’re destined to be artists despite all evidence to the contrary. If they and their enablers drive you nuts, you may want to drop by the off-Broadway comedy “Philip Goes Forth.”
Amazingly, this isn’t a new play by a curmudgeon frustrated by our overindulgent climate: It was written in 1931 by George Kelly, the uncle of movie star/princess Grace.
Over the 80 years since, the show hasn’t lost an ounce of bite. In fact, its rebuke of would-be artists resonates more loudly than ever in our age of TV talent shows and Williamsburg whiz kids.
The 23-year-old title character (Bernardo Cubría) is convinced that he’s meant to be a playwright, which leads him to lock horns with his businessman father (Cliff Bemis).
At least Philip’s kind aunt, Mrs. Randolph (Christine Toy Johnson), is on his side.
“I think the very fact that one thinks he can write a play is proof that he can do it,” she tells him.
After leaving his cushy job in his dad’s company, Philip follows his dream to New York, where he settles in a boarding house run by Mrs. Ferris (Kathryn Kates), a den mother to her young tenants — all of whom dabble in the arts.
Jerry Ruiz’s production for the Mint company is a little too flat, a little too literal for the material. This is a screwball comedy that requires quickness, charm and a sense of eccentric style — which most of the cast can’t seem to grasp. Teddy Bergmann, for instance, tries too hard as Tippy Shronk, a boarder who works in publishing and is also Philip’s old college roommate.
But the show perks up when we’re in the company of Kates, one-time babka lady on “Seinfeld.” Her wise Mrs. Ferris helps bring the play to life, and even the set follows suit, going from all-white Art Deco for Mrs. Randolph’s deluxe abode to a richly colored bohemian lair.
A former actress, Mrs. Ferris has a keen nose for frauds and dilettantes. So after months of watching Philip in action, she demolishes his fantasies, kindly but implacably.
Philip doesn’t even like playwriting, Mrs. Ferris points out: He just can’t admit that he’s actually good at his day job in retail, as unglamorous as that is.
“It’s all right to try a thing, if you think you can do it,” she tells him. “But when you discover that it is not your game, for God’s sake do not hang around, posing and cluttering up the place with a lot of unnecessary failure.”
“Liking a thing, or talking a lot about it, is not an ability to do it,” she says. If only Mrs. Ferris were a judge on “The Voice” or “America’s Got Talent.”