DIANA: THE PEOPLE’S PRINCESS, SURROUNDED BY THE WRONG PEOPLE
It is not good. It is not terrible. It is bloodless, procedural, and, in Christopher Ashley’s staging, constantly, exhaustingly turned up to 11. It lacks nearly any wit, poetry, or sense of fun—except in the few moments when the tone shifts, briefly and inexplicably, to camp. (The estimable Judy Kaye doubles as both Diana’s regal mother-in-law and also her over-the-top step-grandmother, the pulpy romance novelist Barbara Cartland, and in the latter role offers most of those few goofy moments.) We appreciate, once again, the many trials, stolen triumphs, and ultimate tragedies of Diana’s life. But watching it all rehashed at the Longacre, we are not especially amused.
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There’s something sinister about a motel room. I think of buzzing fluorescent lights, the lingering scent of tobacco on every surface, nondescript paintings over nondescript wallpapers, and faint conversations from the next room. I’ve got vivid memories of those details, all of which could’ve been from an actual stay in a motel somewhere along a […]
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