Republican Family Fireworks in ‘Other Desert Cities’ Set Broadway Alight Again

When “Other Desert Cities,” Jon Robin Baitz’s razor-sharp, deeply humane account of a family being torn apart by conflicting perspectives, premiered on Broadway in 2011, the polarization of politics and media already had people scattering off into different silos, less eager to engage opposing viewpoints or learn where they came from. The play reminded us of the dangers of judging others purely by their perceived values or political affiliations.Fifteen years later, of course, things seem infinitely worse, and it would be a gift to have “Cities” back in any form. But the new production that has arrived at the Hudson Theatre is more than that. Director John Benjamin Hickey has recruited what’s surely as superb an ensemble as you’ll see this season.Unfolding in late 2004, nearly two years into the Iraq War, “Cities” introduces us to the Wyeth family: Lyman, the patriarch, was a film star who pivoted to a high-profile role in the Republican party—the Reagans are an obvious point of reference and are cited at points—and has since relocated to Palm Springs, California, with his wife, Polly, a former screenwriter.They’re joined there on the morning of Christmas Eve by their son, Trip, who works in television, and daughter Brooke, an erstwhile novelist who, as we’ll soon learn, has been through a prolonged period of emotional distress. She is trying to put her life back together, but her means of doing so, writing and preparing to publish a memoir exploring a long-buried family scandal, could prove destructive to the others, particularly her parents.Mr. Hickey, an acclaimed actor himself, has assigned all these roles—and one other, that of Polly’s sister, Silda—to performers who seem ideally suited to them. They include Julia Louis-Dreyfus, making her Broadway debut as Polly, whom Silda compares at one point to Patricia Buckley. Trip notes, summing up his mom during a typically fraught exchange, “You make people very nervous!”Polly seems to have no tolerance for what she interprets as weakness; she also uses language, in discussing minorities and leftists, that would get her canceled in five minutes today. Notably, she plays down her own Jewish heritage; an enormous Christmas tree is prominent in Scott Pask’s expansive set, and Polly describes her relatives as “Texans, Westerners,” prompting Trip to retort, “You mean rabbis, don’t you?”But Polly has surprising secrets, as does her visiting sibling, who was her writing partner and has just finished a stint in rehab. Hilariously played by a whip-smart Allison Janney, Silda seems a little jealous of her sister’s marital and financial success, but what really gets her goat is Polly’s attachment to, as Silda describes it to her, “the zealots who have taken over your party and marinated it in intolerance.”Brooke’s take is clearly also informed by this view, and by a more general solipsism that I found immensely irritating when I saw “Cities” during its original Broadway run. Defending herself to Trip, who knows that her tell-all will shatter both their parents, she insists, “The only obligation I have is to myself.” Were she writing today, she would no doubt be chatting in interviews about her “lived experience.”Yet as played by a magnificent Lily Rabe, whose performances in both classical and contemporary works have always invited a closer look at the inner lives of her characters, Brooke inspires as much sympathy as frustration. She also proves a fine vehicle for the actress’s comedic chops, as the part of Trip does for Joe Keery, an alumnus of the Netflix series “Stranger Things” who makes a crackling Broadway debut as Brooke’s similarly wry but less drama-prone brother.If the men in “Cities” tend to come across as more pragmatic and agreeable than the female characters, it’s suggested — at least until the harrowing end — that they may have a greater capacity for repression. Ed Harris, in one of the most powerful of many great performances I’ve seen him deliver on stage and in movies, evinces the toll; by the end, you can see his Lyman shaking, finally unable to contain his emotion.As much as “Other Desert Cities” makes us laugh and think, its most valuable asset is that it promotes empathy. Mr. Baitz’s play provides both robust entertainment and much-needed moral nourishment — as opposed to pat judgment, which is precisely what this equally witty and moving piece decries..

Republican Family Fireworks in ‘Other Desert Cities’ Set Broadway Alight Again

Republican Family Fireworks in ‘Other Desert Cities’ Set Broadway Alight Again

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