Volume 67, Issue 7

YCDS Catches Its Rainbow
by Commentator Staff

For the third semester in a row, the Yeshiva College Dramatics Society chose a script better known for it character flaws and plot holes than its blockbuster success, such as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Primal Fear,” which opened to sold-out crowds. The new production of “K-PAX,” however, defeats its inherited flaws, and YCDS triumphs.

K-PAX takes the audience on a wild ride through the journey of a mysterious stranger named Prot (Ari Hoffman) who appears out of thin air claiming to be a visitor from the distant planet K-PAX. With no identity to prove that this “alien” could be from anywhere else, he is taken to the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute where he is put under the care of the acting director, Dr. Gene Brewer (Jacob Gordon). Brewer tries to learn more about K-PAX and Prot’s history, intent on curing him of his apparent delusions. 

Over time, Prot shares numerous anecdotes of his utopian planet with the hospital’s residents and staff, causing the patients to fall in love with his disarming curiosity and to become ever hopeful of the possibility of freedom, as Prot promises to take one of the patients to K-PAX with him upon his departure from Earth. His descriptions of K-PAX paint a world free from laws, families and social conflicts, instilling further hope in the patients and raising the suspicions of the doctors.

However, Brewer has difficulty proving Prot’s claims to be false. In fact, the peculiar patient displays an infinite knowledge of subjects he shouldn’t know anything about – unless, of course, he really is from another planet. So as the day of Prot’s departure nears, Brewer experiences a sense of urgency to solve this man’s riddle before he may lose him forever.

To no fault of YCDS, K-PAX only falters when it attempts to resolve the mystery it has established – that is, is Prot really from another planet? The script can’t quite answer this question, and, instead of sewing up Prot’s case, tacks on an ambiguous, open-ended conclusion that leaves the audience with more queries to explore. It’s frustrating, yes, but it contributes to the shows allure. If you’re not discussing this marvelous show on the ride home, you didn’t pay close enough attention.

Hoffman’s portrayal of Prot imbues the character with a sterile yet colorful persona who is always comfortable with – but not quite aware of – his surroundings.  The brilliance of his performance culminates in the scenes where Prot is hypnotized and Hoffman seamlessly and convincingly moves between memory and reality, sanity and insanity, spanning a wide range of ages and characters.  This is Hoffman’s fourth lead role on the YCDS stage and certainly his finest.

A complex character, Dr. Brewer is conflicted throughout the play. Gordon is left with a man that is torn between his work and his estranged family, practicing medicine and treating patients while managing specific relationships with everyone in the show. Dismissive, interested, skeptical, obsessed and finally enlightened, the script forces Gordon to pack conflicting emotions into Dr. Brewer, never allowed him to focus on one for more than just a few moments. Always a captivating stage presence, Gordon delivers a remarkable performance.

Dr. Fleen, played by YCDS rookie Josh Yehaskel, adds a critical balance to Dr. Brewer’s constantly shifting emotions, with his serious and calculative personality serving as a perfect foil opposite Brewer’s flippancy.

Dov Medinets creates the perfect caricature in portraying Dr. Brewers antagonist Dr. Solomon, the state appointed patient advocate. Dov does a fantastic job in creating a character that is simultaneously correct, condescending and awkward, specifically when he informs Prot of his rights as a patient, only to be rebuffed and reprimanded by this “alien” patient.

Encompassing Dr. Brewer’s world outside the institute, his son, Steve, played by Elliot Schiff, is a caring son who is conflicted by his simultaneous anger at and concern for his father.  Steve’s empathy complements Brewer’s coldness, and provides the proper edge to the scenes that most directly question Prot’s sanity.

The attendent (Ben Refah), Manetti (Yaron Karl), and Professor Johnson (Naftali Rothman) add one-dimensional characters who offer contrast to the playful scenes involving the wild antics of the patients and the relief necessary for the more dramatic scenes.

The patients are a collective group of crazies portrayed as such by a cornucopia of student personalities. With performances from YCDS veterans such as Motti Schleider (playing Ernie), a man who has a deathly fear of everything, Benzion Chinn (playing Bernard), hysterically latching on to Prot and even becoming him once the alien patient “leaves,” and Rafi Marinelli (playing Howie), a perfectionist who is sent by Prot to accomplish three tasks: find the “bluebird of happiness,” help cure Ernie, and to “be prepared for anything.”  These actors set a new level of excellence for their fellow first rookies in the cast.

This new level is also exemplified by the characters of Sal (Shealtiel Weinberg), an ex-doorman at the Plaza Hotel who claims everyone “stinks”; Mario (Chaim Orent), a patient suffering from multi-personality-disorder; and Russel (Zalman Abramchik), who lends his wonderful singing voice to Mr. Archer’s (Oren Litwin) impressive violin skills and to the rest of the patients singing in the choruses.

Never stopping, never wavering, and never faltering – the patients are the true stars of this semester’s production.

However this show would not have been complete with what seems to have become a YCDS tradition. Following on the heels of Jake the bird from “The Shawshank Redemption” and Samson the goat from “Mister Roberts,” YCDS and the audience welcomed Max the dog, whose presence was needed both to help build Prot’s character as a viable “alien” and lighten many of the more emotion-laden scenes.

While the cast certainly acted way beyond their potential, it was the lovable staples of all YCDS productions that gave K-PAX the Beukas Signature. Intricate lighting schemes, executed by Avi Silverberg, added immensely to the show while flawlessly being timed with yet another haunting sound score, coordinated by Jason Gevertzman.  The set, Brewers office, the hospital’s main ward, and other universal locales were painted white to represent the hospital’s sterile environment, but also brilliantly used to show projections of planets and galaxies for the scenes discussing Prot’s knowledge of the stars.

In all, stellar performances combined with a wonderful technical show made “K-PAX” a production YCDS can be very proud of. ♦

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