Susan Granger’s review of “The Coast Starlight” (Off-Broadway: Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theatre)
When I taught screenwriting, one of my students’ assignments was to ride on public transport in order to eavesdrop on conversations, envisaging the interactions of those around them. That’s one of the most effective ways to learn to write dialogue.
Along those same lines, Keith Bunin’s compassionate new play, “The Coast Starlight,” revolves around six passengers who fantasize what they might have said to one another on the Amtrak Coast Starlight train that runs from Los Angeles to Seattle – a 35-hour trip.
First to board the sleeper coach is T.J. (Will Harrison), a young Navy medic who’s – instead of facing another deployment to Afghanistan – has decided to go AWOL with stolen identification. He’s followed by Jane (Camila Cano-Flavia), a movie animator who is travelling to visit her boyfriend and, being naturally observant, enjoys sketching those around her.
Then there’s Noah (Rhys Coiro), a bartender/Army vet traveling to Oregon to visit with his elderly mother who is suffering from dementia, and loud-mouthed Liz (Mia Baron), who’s suffering from a humiliating break-up with her boy-friend after participating in the Esalen Institute’s “Extraordinary Couples Workshop.”
Finally, there’s liquored-up Ed (Jon Norman Schneider), who lost his driver’s license after a DUI and is heading for a tech industry meeting, and Anna (Michelle Wilson), who is returning home after the grisly task of identifying the body of her heroin-addicted brother from whom she’s been estranged for ten years.
We learn about these characters since each delivers an explanatory monologue. While their actual interaction is limited, Noah cautions T.J. about the long-term consequences of his desertion – one that would necessitate him living the rest of his life on-the-run. Like this, most of the confessional conversations are imagined.
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, the ephemeral interaction of the acting ensemble is extraordinarily effective, perhaps because at least half of them have been working together since the play had its 2019 premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Arnulfo Maldonado’s rotating square platform set has moveable Amtrak seats while 59 Productions’ projections reflect California’s western coastline whizzing by, superbly lit by Lap Chi Chu. Asta Bennie Hostetter’s costumes capture each person’s personality, and Daniel Kluger’s music is appropriately melancholy.
Running 95 minutes, “The Coast Starlight” plays at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater until April 16, 2023.