IT'S 'UP' IN SMOKE
QUIRKY FAMILY DRAMEDY FEELS FORCED
By FRANK SCHECK
Rating: 
April 22, 2008
THE family members in Liz Flahive's "From Up Here" are certainly quirky. Daniel is a Mr. Mom who makes his own potpourri, while his older wife, Grace (Julie White) - this is her second marriage - is deeply anxious over his passionate desire for her to get pregnant.
Her teenage son, Kenny (Tobias Segal), who's so neurotic he won't drink dark liquids, has just done something disturbing at school, while pot-smoking Aunt Caroline (Arija Bareikis) recently arrived from a mountain-climbing expedition. Grace's daughter Lauren (Aya Cash) is relatively normal, in a tough-talking but vulnerable, "Juno" sort of way. ("Don't you find maintaining this level of sarcasm exhausting?" her stepfather asks wearily.)
As a family dramedy, "From Up Here," which opened last week at the Manhattan Theatre Club, is far more strained than most of the genre. Uneasily blending sensitive issues with awkward moments of slapstick and acerbic one-liners, it feels forced from first to last.
The evening's tone feels particularly misplaced when we eventually learn the details of Kenny's transgression, which is too disturbing to be placed in such a lighthearted context.
Given the wide range of emotions they're given to display, the performers clearly relish their roles, and at times their strenuous efforts pay off. But ultimately they are defeated by the sheer artificiality of the proceedings.
The terrific White ("The Little Dog Laughed") is particularly wasted, as she's given little to do except for a silly, late-in-the-play meltdown involving someone defecating on her lawn.
Ultimately, "From Up Here" feels like a compendium of character eccentricities in search of a play.
FROM UP HERE
New York City Center Stage I, 131 W. 55th St.; (212) 581 1212. Through June 8.
