Theatre Review: Public Servant Serves Empathy At Theatre Row
There have been many moments in my life when I swore that if I told the universe,”I am a good person that wants to do good so please stop giving me issues,” it would. You can be a good person that wishes to help the world, but that does not expel you from the consistent sufferings of yourself and others. On the contrary, your goodness makes you feel it more. Directed by Geordie Broadwater and written by Bekah Brunstetter, Public Servant asks what is the “good enough” to finally get better.
Chris Henry Coffey plays Ed Sink, a recently elected County Commissioner that sincerely thought he would change the world without really knowing it. I say this because for all his knowledge and tussling empathy, there is a background of difference between the man that helps those in need and the ones that have needs. Enter Christine Bruno’s Miriam to represent the needy. Fighting to sell her deceased mother’s home and suffering from infertility and cerebral palsy, she embodies the sadness, anger, and isolation that strikes those who have to deal with life not being fair and not getting better. She has a multitude of issues, from emotional to financial, and, while just one her problems could make you sink into fetal position, she has to carry them. Moreover, she wants Sink to give her, at least, one resolution
.
Yes, I said it. LIFE DOESN’T ALWAYS GET BETTER! You can have decades worth of bad luck, and, in a world, that promotes optimism by denying darkness, Anna Lentz’s Hannah feels like a refreshening of true positivity. She is sweet, idealistic, and understanding that pain varies in degrees but stays the same in source: desire. In the same way Sink wants to help his community and keep together his family so does Miriam, and in that want and hope of its achievement, Hannah sees a bridge to actualization. What I love about Hannah is that she is one of the rare representations of how loving and bright younger generations. So often, you will hear people say that “kids need to be kids” and denounce how and if they are growing up. Yet, this world has a LOT OF ISSUES and Lentz makes Hannah a noble, sentimental sponge of social awareness. In essence, she proves kids not only “know;” they could know better.
Public Servant is being marketed according to its writer, Bekah Brunstetter, because of her affiliation with This Is Us, and the play has its sappy, tear-jerking moments. Hence, I was happy. Moreover, like the show, Bekah plots her storylines and desired outcomes like seeds between characters’ bonds; building upon the notion that humanity can only better through humanity. Public Servant is 90 minutes with no intermission. It plays at Theatre Row until June 29. Located: 410 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036. Click Here To Buy Tickets.
