Women Or Nothing

Playing at the Atlantic Theatre located 336 West 26th Street. It runs one hour forty minutes with one intermission. The show closes on October 13, 2013.

Ethan Coen is the playwright. He has written sixteen movies with his brother Joel. Both brothers have been nominated for thirteen Academy awards and have won four (Fargo and No Country for Old Men). Ethan wrote a short play in Relatively Speaking. Elaine May and Woody Allen wrote the other two plays in the show.

Deborah Rush has been nominated for a Tony Award for “Noises Off” (1984).

David Cromer is the director. He directed “Nikola and The Others” off Broadway and “The House of Blue Leaves” on Broadway. David won a Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for directing “Our Town” at the Barrow Theatre in 2008.

Gretchen (Holly Feiffer) and her partner Laura (Susan Pourfar) want to have a child. But they disagree on how Laura should conceive the child. Gretchen has it all planned out that one of her co-workers will be the dad and why. He has no clue he’s the target. Laura is not thrilled with the idea and deception. She rather go to a sperm bank.

Chuck (Robert Beitzl) unaware of the plan comes over to her apartment thinking he is having a date with Gretchen. She’s not there but her neighbor Laura is.

In the second act Laura mother Dorene (Deborah Rush) arrives with a birthday gift for Gretchen. She is surprised to find a man in the apartment let along coming out of her daughter’s room half dressed. While Laura leaves Chuck tells Dorene information about his daughter. The things Gretchen had liked about her and her dad are not true. Dorene tells him not to tell her daughter.

Well laid plans may just backfire without you knowing.

The set designed by Michael Spadaro is great. I wish I had an apartment that spacious and neat. It has windows that you can see the apartment building across the street.

Susan Pourfar does a great job.

Deborah Rush is funny as the mother you would most like to disown.

This is a pleasant show. It is better than “Private Lives” recently on Broadway.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

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