"The Injured Party"

Orange County Business Journal, May 5-May 11, 2008 by Ryan, Kelly

"The Injured Party"

South Coast Repertory through May 11

Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg of "Take Me Out" fame returns to South Coast Repertory to debut "The Injured Party."

The play is a New York-centric, character-driven drama that captures the story of Seth (Reg Rogers) and his sharp-tongued grandmother Maxene (Cynthia Harris) in almost two hours or verbal sparring.

The story is set in New York in 2005, during the time of Christo's controversial art installation "The Gates." Several of the characters reminisce about their experiences walking parts of the 23 miles of billowing saffron fabric in Central Park.

Tony Award-nominee Rogers delivers an enthralling performance, frequently contorting his body in visual displays of extreme annoyance and frustration. The play is filled with wit and words, challenging even the most erudite with its vocabulary.

It also challenges the audience with its modern-day philosophy, examining money aria property from the perspective of those who ao and don't have them. In one scene, characters reflect on me art of buying things for the purpose of having someone steal them from you.

Good portions of the play are rather lighN hearted. But some are a bit morbid. And like all Green berg works, he likes to push the envelope with subject matter and language, so viewers be prepared. The play is lengthy at an hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.

-Kelly Ryan