3C

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater’s production of David Adjimi’s dark comedy 3C is disco-dancing proof that a strong cast can make even the weakest script soar.

The cast (including CSI: NY’s Eddie Cahill as Terry) was uniformly top-notch, but Hannah Cabell and Jake Silbermann stole the show, as Linda and Brad respectively. They played the script’s two most traumatized characters, and their skillful performances ironically emphasized the script’s weaknesses while selling the show well enough that I had to get on my phone right afterwards to recommend it to a friend.

Adjimi starts to tell multiple stories in 3C – Linda’s sexual assault, Brad adjusting to civilian life after Vietnam while confronting his homosexuality, Mrs. Wicker’s (Kate Buddeke) mental illness. But the only story that gets told with any depth is that of Brad’s homosexuality, and this struggle lacks definition until more than halfway through the play. Initially, it seems like the traumas that Adjimi will address are of sexual assault and returning from war, or even coping with mental illness like bipolar disorder. But the first two get lost in the preoccupation with Brad trying to come out of the closet, and the third is played for laughs.

That said, this cast sold it. Cabell and Silbermann told as strong a story in their pensive silences as they did (tellingly) with Adjimi’s dialogue. Anna Chlumsky and Cahill thoroughly entertained strutting their 70s stuff around the stage. Bill Buell terrified while tickling the audience’s funny-bone as the homophobic Mr. Wicker, and Buddeke pulled of what could have been a slap in the face to those who suffer from mental illness with aplomb.

Rattlestick’s production of 3C is worth every penny of the somewhat steep ticket price, but I don’t think Adjimi's script is something that I would want to pick up myself or recommend to somebody else’s theater.

It runs through July 15^th, and tickets are available at http://www.theatermania.com/off-off-broadway/shows/3c_184026/.