Inventing Avi is Hilarious!
I had the pleasure of watching the dress rehearsal for Robert Cary and Benjamin Feldman’s new play Inventing Avi (and other theatrical maneuvers). It was side splitting funny. The play, which is directed by Mark Waldrop, tells the behind the scenes story of how duplicitous people will be to make it in theater. The cast is hysterical and employs great timing to tell some great Jew jokes. It is full of wonderful and hilarious twists and turns. The ending is a total shocker that got the biggest laughs of the night. Check out the preview for this play at the Abingdon Theater starting tonight. The engagement runs until November 1st.
Inventing Avi tells the story of a young playwright played by Stanley Bahorek. He writes a script about holocaust deniers, but can’t get anyone to take him seriously because he is not Jewish. After a Kinkos girl played by Havilah Brewster reads his script and recognizes its brilliance they hatch a mad plan to get it produced. They enlist struggling and promiscuous actor Avi Aviv to pretend to be the Jewish writer of the play to win a grant from a Jewish foundation. The other major driving force of the play are dueling sisters played by Alix Korey and Emily Zacharias. Their tumultuous relationship, which is explained in flash backs to their youth, is both funny and poignant. It also sets up tons of great conflict and back stabbing that is a joy to watch. The cast is puts on a great performance, and it is easy to see they are deeply enjoying themselves on stage.
This play is really all about how far people are willing to go to get their artist work recognised. It also shows how low people are willing to stoop to remain in the spot light. As its name suggests this play is also about the Jewish experience. However the Jewishness is used more to drive both plot and humor. In the end, this is a play about learning to forgive and putting the art above the individual. It is about the messiness of human relationships, and how truly remarkable stories are told. If you want a fun night and to see some great new theater, go check out Inventing Avi.
