Bash: Latter Day Plays

Plot

Neil LaBute's Bash: Latter Day Plays is a film of his theatrical presentation of three one-act plays. As in much of LaBute's work, the darker side of human nature is explored. "Gaggle of Saints" features a couple (Paul Rudd of Clueless and Calista Flockhart of Ally McBeal), students at Boston College, who take turns describing a road trip to New York City for a big "bash" at the Plaza Hotel. While the girls go off to bed after the party, the boys roam Central Park, and end up having a violent encounter. In the second play, "Medea Redux," Flockhart plays a young woman who describes an affair she had with her teacher when she was thirteen, and the terrible vengeance she took on him after he abandoned her. The third play, "Iphigenia in Orem" stars Ron Eldard (Sleepers) as a traveling salesman, who regales an unseen confidant with a tragic and increasingly disturbing tale of his family life. Most of the characters are Mormons (as is LaBute himself). The film originally aired on Showtime in 2000. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Review

Bash: Latter Day Plays, a filmed performance of three one-act plays, should satisfy fans of writer-director Neil LaBute, as his mordant wit and his cynical view of human nature are on full display. LaBute makes no effort to open the play up, and his simple presentation puts the burden on his actors to put his words across. Calista Flockhart and Ron Eldard deliver engrossing performances. Paul Rudd fares less well, hampered by LaBute's script, which has him deliver the most horrific information in an impossibly cheerful, offhand manner. It's effectively chilling, but it strains credulity to think that this young man feels no ambivalence, let alone remorse, about the carnage he's unleashed. It's similar to the treatment of Jason Patric's hateful character, Cary, in Your Friends and Neighbors. LaBute, in the first play, "Gaggle of Saints" seems more interested in shocking the audience than in exploring the basic humanity of "bad" people. The second and third plays are more complex and interesting, because while the characters Flockhart and Eldard play are certainly guilty of atrocious behavior, their obvious distress over what they've done makes it impossible to dismiss them as monsters. Both actors show impressive power. Flockhart transforms herself from a bubble-headed preppie in the first play to an emotionally scarred, prematurely aged woman in "Medea Redux," the second. LaBute displays a keen insight into this woman's psyche, as she describes the terrible thing she's done, linked inexorably to her feeling that the universe was "laughing" at her. Eldard is equally unsettling in the third play, "Iphigenia in Orem." His genially misogynistic Mormon murderer is a case study in the banality of evil. LaBute does an excellent job here of slowly unraveling a complicated and ugly tale. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Cast

• Paul Rudd
• Calista Flockhart
• Ron Eldard

Credit

Neil LaBute - Director, Neil LaBute - Screenwriter, Neil LaBute - Play Author

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