Staff Meal.

"Staff Meal" at Playwrights Horizon is a Dada type of play... think Tom Stoppard type of Dada. The play starts with two characters- Ben (Greg Keller and Mina (Susannah Flood), at a internet cafe, if you will type of scene. The prompter to the right of the stage keeps telling us "the next day" as the scenes touch on the absurd. Both are socially awkward and try to make the best of their meetings each and everyday. Writer Abe Koogler. who is apparently obsessed with restaurants, has written a play about a restaurant in "Staff Meal" (it is what the wait staff get to eat before the restaurant opens for the evening.

As the play unfolds, the awkward couple makes its way to a hot new establishment that is owned by a renowned restaurant owner. As the service languishes, the couple pours on the humor through their comfortableness with each other and society in general. Geekish in nature, we get maybe the funniest dialogue in the play. The couple breaks down their ideas about movies ranging from"Titanic" to "Ratatouille". This scene is so bizarre by way of farce that it leaves the audience in stitches.

Morgan Green directs this show; as far as the acting goes, Green does an admirable job in that the actors move about well, "the business" and expression are all entertaining. The sets too are done well in a very economical way. The slide stage allows the story to move from the cafe into the restaurant. Getting a firm view of the restaurant as well as the kitchen, Jian Jung gives us a glimpse of the inner workings of the establishment where some really weird stuff goes on. Kaye Voyce gives us some creative costumes, after all, what is farce without a whacked out costume now and then!

As the show progresses, it is the sound that takes this show by its horns; Tei Blow's efforts are maybe the best thing in this show. It is almost as if Blow had the pulse of this play by way of mood and the feeling toward it. In the lighting, Masha Tsimring too captures the pulse in a timely fashion. First with subtle off whites, as the play progresses, so does the in-depth lighting. With a plethora of colors, Tsimring is creative throughout the 95 minutes of this play and captures the play's essence.

While all the actors are good in this play, the plot gets really foolish in the last 12 minutes or so at the ending. With a stronger finish, this play could have been so much more. Instead, it was almost as if Koogler ran out of ideas as to how to finish this plot( thankfully the waiter Hampton Fluker told us the show is almost over). Up until this point in the play, the audience was engaged in what the author had to say. The ending was sophomoric at best and left us disappointed and confused!

"Staff Meal" is a unusual play as are most farce play's . In the Dada realm, "Staff" has pockets of greatness; at other times it's weak. The writing is too inconsistent at the end to be taken too seriously as a noteworthy play. But even when the play languishes at times at the center, the jokes are able to carry the various weaknesses. Unfortunately at the end of the show there are no jokes to wash out the terrible writing and as such, dramatically weakens the other 80 minutes that was enjoyable and fun.

#Broadway Bob, www.nimbusmagazine.com, www.triviscompany.com, Broadway, Tony Awards, "Lion King, Wicked, Harry Potter, Alladin, Rachel McAdams, Oscars, Hollywood.