Susan Granger’s review of “Emma and Max” (Off-Broadway at The Flea)
Making his playwriting debut, independent filmmaker Todd Solondz (“Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Happiness,” “Dark Horse,” “Weiner-Dog”) brings his provocative, socially conscious parody to the New York theater scene as part of The Flea’s “Color Brave” season, devoted to exploring racial themes.
Set in Manhattan, Emma and Max are the toddlers who have been cared for by Brittany (Zonya Love), a Barbadian nanny, who – in the jarring first scene – is fired by their parents.
“What did I do wrong?’ Brittany inquires, carefully counting her three-month severance pay before collapsing to the floor with a seizure.
Self-centered Brooke (Ilana Becker) and Jay (Matt Servitto) feel that now that the children are three and two, their needs have changed, so they’ve hired a 20 year-old au pair from Holland.
“With Brittany, it was always such a struggle just to understand what she was saying…I actually think that the little ones’ English is a little lagging because of her…well…cultural limitations,” egotistical Brooke explains.
Problem is: when grimly enigmatic Brittany leaves, she takes the apartment keys with her to Brooklyn and has no intention of returning them, despite Brooke’s repeated phone calls. And since Brittany’s an illegal immigrant, suspicions immediately arise.
Stressed over the domestic upheaval, Brooke and Jay take off for a Caribbean vacation on which they indulge in extensive, self-justifying monologues that eventually become rants. Emma, Max and the new nanny are projected in silent video images.
Solodnz uses the heinous, true-crime case that obviously inspired the play as foundation to eviscerate white entitlement and the disparity of power between the upscale couple and their black employee. Cleverly, he has Brittany assume the additional job of a stagehand, arduously adjusting Julia Noulin-Merat’s sets between scenes – until the power shifts and she doesn’t.
Unfortunately, the playwright also serves as director, which is a disservice to himself. In film, Todd Solondz works with an editor. Here, he is unfettered. As a result, both the writing and direction are too heavy-handed, including the over-use of the song “The Winner Takes It All.”
Mercilessly satirical, “Emma and Max” has been extended through November 4, Off-Broadway at The Flea, 20 Thomas Street between Church and Broadway.