Alexis
Soloski

November 3, 2014

The devastation of the climate, the ravages of capitalism, the marginal status of theater — that’s a lot to cram into a single South Brooklyn apartment. Buzz, the debut play by the novelist and critic Benjamin Kunkel, takes place in the loft where Tom (Trevor Kluckman) struggles to write a play, while his girlfriend, Sasha (Jeri Silverman), awaits the birth of their baby. This absurdist, allegorical show begins promisingly, as we enter an actual loft space and watch several figures in Hazmat suits undrape the furniture. Their presence conjures thoughts of Ebola and bedbugs (which terrifies New Yorkers more?), but they are merely the exterminators Sasha has hired to purge the apartment of droning flies. Once Tom, and then Sasha, enter — both, puzzlingly, in their underwear, as is the rest of the cast — and begin to speak, interest ebbs.