‘Dying City’ Review: Indie Theatre Shortcomings Can’t Ruin Solid Performances

The Seeing Place Theatre’s revival of Christopher Shinn’s “Dying City” makes a terrible first impression, but ultimately, thanks in part to wonderful acting by Erin Cronican and Brandon Walker, manages to win a good piece of its respectability back.

Many of the problems crippling the production, such as the lackluster set, sound and lighting, are a byproduct of independent theatre and do nothing to hurt the overall appeal and charismatic performances by Cronican and Walker.

If you are a fan of theatre, you’ll appreciate their performances and be able to look past the frugal set, with no walls and some used furniture serving as the only backdrop for what is essentially a series of incredibly emotional conversations between three people that change their lives forever. Add in the drama of post 9/11 New York City and you have yourself a production that can be quite dramatic at times.

But that’s when the Indie element rears its ugly head. The Sergeant Theatre is essentially a large, cold, fourth floor room. If the story’s plot isn’t your idea of entertainment, you’ll quickly be turned off and the aesthetics of the theatre don’t help.

Regardless, enough cannot be said about the performance of Walker. Able to bounce back and forth between identical (but so different) twins Craig and Peter, Walker is solid and convincing. Much like the play itself, Walker was incredibly annoying at first as Peter- to the point of nearly being intolerable in the performance’s first scene. His huffing and puffing, hand gestures and worried ways make him a character that’s easy to hate. He’s the type of person who talks too loud while on the line at Starbucks or on a crowded L train.

But after the first scene or so, after he’s able to tell a part or two of his story, you begin to understand him and his ways. This character has been through a ton- Walker’s performance reflects that realistically and compassionately.

Simply put, you probably know someone like Peter. You may even love someone like him.

Once Walker shifts to Craig, you see another side of the actor as well. That’s when his acting chops begin to appear. That’s when “Dying City” begins to work as well as it possibly can.

Although there was one occasion where he appeared to flub a line (making it seem that one character slept with a man, when Cronican quickly said after that it was a woman), Walker was exceptional. Cronican’s shifts in emotion are also incredibly effective, as she is able to go from confident one second to an emotional wreck the other. Between the two performers, there’s so much emotional dynamite on the stage that at some points, you’re just waiting for something to blow up. These moments are were the show is the most enjoyable.

But away from their performances, the script’s pace is plodding. If you don’t connect the dots that Peter and Craig and identical brothers and that there are shifts in time, it’s easy to get lost. All in all, it’s the slow-moving plot that hurts this production the most.

Simply put, The Seeing Place Theatre deserves a better location to showcase their talent and “Dying City,” despite no real need for lavish scenery and production values, may not be the best way to show off their talented ensemble of actors. Performers the likes of Cronican and Walker would thrive in larger venues and in different productions- it is on the back of their skills that this production is able to stay afloat and at times, thrive.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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