HOW TO FOLD A SHIRT
nytheatre.com review by Roger Nasser
August 12, 2008
"If you watch Project Runway without me you're dead"; that was the last thing that Trevor said to his lover Troy before he went to work. When Trevor returned he found Troy hanging by a noose from a pipe. In any time of crisis a person relies on his friends to help him, which brings in Tuesday and Tony. They've come in from Los Angeles to support their grieving friend. Tony, Tuesday, Trevor, and Troy used to all be roommates ten years ago. They shared a place to live and also formed a love-rectangle, kind of.
Apparently, Tuesday is in love with Tony, who falls for Trevor, who was lovers with Troy. This is the premise (and I use that term loosely) of Lucky devil Theatre Company's self proclaimed "balls to the wall comedy" How To Fold A Shirt. The play contains lots of snappy dialogue and way too many clichés. I felt that the premise wasn't very plausible. I didn't believe that these people were friends in the first place. They are very harsh and cold to one another.
How To Fold A Shirt is written and directed by Anthony Gelsomino. I felt that perhaps it needed an outside eye. The script has lots of punchy dialogue and many pop culture references—too many in fact. There is even a gratuitous musical number in the middle of the show that really seems way out of place. The show has the feel of a sitcom or a skit. The characters are not listening to each other and neither are the actors.
The cast consists of Raymond Richardson as Trevor, Briel Pomerantz as Tuesday, Scott Shinick as Tony, and Anthony Raymond as Troy. They play outrageous characters and are focused while doing so. I felt though that their varied styles of acting didn't mesh and it didn't feel cohesive. There were also many asides in the show and as an audience member I wasn't sure why.
Another thing that makes no real sense to me is the title. There is only one mention of the title, in reference to the video of the Chinese lady who folds a shirt in seconds. The only other thing that seems to tie in is the set design; there are a bunch of white t-shirts attached to each other hanging from the ceiling. It really didn't make any sense to me. Neither did the second scene of the play. I left the play completely confused. There seemed to be potential for a funny show, but somehow they missed the mark.
