Oscar Winner Ethan Coen’s ‘Let’s Love!’ Repeatedly Reminds That Irreverence Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Cleverness

On its official site, Atlantic Theater Company describes “Let’s Love!” as a comedy “that explores love in all its miserable glory.” “Miserable” would be the key word for this new work by Ethan Coen — a multiple Oscar winner who is best known for collaborating with his brother Joel on celebrated films such as “Fargo,” “Barton Fink,” and “No Country for Old Men,” to name just a few — now having its world premiere off-Broadway.Consisting of three sketches that collectively clock in at 90 minutes, “Let’s Love!” is not, to put it mildly, a show you’d want to catch on a first date, or a fifth, or as an anniversary outing. I brought along my husband, who had pretty much the same reaction to Mr. Coen’s characters as I did: Who are these people, and why should I care about them?The movies that have won Mr. Coen so much praise are, of course, full of superficially cartoonish creatures; at their worst, these portraits can come across as cynical or even snide — which, one might argue, is one reason critics have adored them: Judgment is our vocation, and we can be a snooty bunch, always eager to identify other people’s intellectual and moral shortcomings.The flaws in “Let’s Love!” are doozies — and it must be said that the female characters come off the worst. The first segment, “The Broad at the Bar,” introduces us to a woman in her 60s who blathers on, crudely and at length, about her sexual exploits. After a while, a middle-aged man wanders in; she naturally makes a pass at him, and he naturally tries to ignore her — at first.The man, played by a nicely dry Dion Graham, turns out to be a somewhat sad figure, though not nearly as pathetic as the “broad,” who is portrayed with courage and an admirable lack of vanity by Mary McCann, one of Atlantic’s founding members. Both performers deserve better, as do their fellow cast members, among them screen stars such as Chris Bauer and Aubrey Plaza.Aubrey Plaza in ‘Let’s Love!’ Ahron R. FosterSo does Neil Pepe, the Atlantic’s artistic director for more than 30 years, who is tasked with guiding the company through this muck. It’s not that there aren’t funny moments in “Let’s Love!”; Mr. Coen makes the guys and gals in this play so ridiculous that we can’t help but at least laugh at them at points — though you may feel guilty in doing so.Consider the second skit, “Dark Eyes,” in which Ms. Plaza, who made a lovely professional stage debut two years ago in a production of John Patrick Shanley’s “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,” plays the most aggressively obnoxious of four characters, two women and two men, who indulge in various acts of emotional and sexual betrayal. Ms. Plaza’s Susan is such a flaming shrew that you end up feeling sorry for a doltish hit man — identified in the program as Tough, and played by Mr. Bauer — whom she tries to seduce in order to avenge, and inflict physical violence on, her boyfriend. Both actors bring great comic finesse to their roles, but their dialogue, which includes more references to body parts and their various potential uses, is only intermittently amusing; more often, it’s simply inane.The action becomes truly cringe-inducing when a fifth character enters the picture, a naïve young man, sweetly played by Noah Robbins, who will prove Susan’s most feckless victim. There are jokes involving Mother Teresa and the Third Reich that, in addition to being tasteless — and trust me, few people like a good tasteless joke more than I do — either seem mean-spirited or simply don’t make any sense.“Let’s Love!” repeatedly reminds us, in fact, that irreverence doesn’t necessarily translate into cleverness. The play’s final and titular segment introduces us to a young couple, played by Mr. Robbins and Dylan Gelula, on a first date; both are self-conscious, but things seem to be going smoothly enough until they’re interrupted by … well, I won’t spoil their story, but if you have a delicate stomach you may want to hold off on dinner until after the show.The couple emerges, nonetheless, as the play’s most optimistic example of love’s possibilities, though we’re not entirely sure, by the end, that the playwright isn’t making fun of them. My advice would be to just avoid the debate — and the show, for that matter.

Oscar Winner Ethan Coen’s ‘Let’s Love!’ Repeatedly Reminds That Irreverence Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Cleverness

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