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‘Matt & Ben’ at the Rialto
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Theater review: “Matt & Ben.� Through Oct. 2.
It takes a minute to adjust to the twistedness of “Matt & Ben,� Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers’ off-Broadway hit playing at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts through Oct. 2. If you don’t get it, you may be hopelessly unamused.
In this irreverent and smartly ironic play, two nimble comedians find themselves in an imaginary flashback to the pre-“Good Will Hunting� days when fledgling scribes Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are trying to hack out a screenplay in a dingy Boston apartment.
The gimmick of this quirky script, which bears the imprint of a “Comedy Central� or “Saturday Night Live� skit, is that the performers look absolutely nothing like the once and future high-school chums who went on to win an Oscar for their writing achievement. The “tall, dark and handsome� Affleck is played by Quincy Tyler Bernstine, a short, athletically built African-American woman, and the blond and chiseled Damon is portrayed by Jennifer Morris, a lanky brunette with a ponytail.
It is probably inaccurate to call these women drag kings, but they know how to butch it up and get under the skin of the sophomoric slummers. Body language and timing is everything, and both actors are first-rate comics with boundless energy and a smarmy disregard for the fortuitous golden boys they send up.
Affleck has the I.Q. of a Dorito; Damon is overweeningly serious but smart enough to lie.
In the faux thriller, the two are trying to write a screen adaptation of “Catcher in the Rye� when an unsolicited copy of “Good Will Hunting� drops from the sky.
The conflict that drives the high-octane physicality is the constant bickering between the smug and sarcastic Affleck and the starched and anal-retentive Damon. There are coy references to Ben’s predilection for Latin chicks and his lack of acting chops.
Without explanation, they are visited by a cupcake-licking Gwyneth Paltrow (Bernstine) and a doddering J.D. Salinger (Morris), who makes a cameo in the highstrung style of Katharine Hepburn — go figure. Jeff Croiter’s lighting and Fitz Patton’s sound play up the bad “Twilight Zone� references.
The production fares surprisingly well for the sprawling Rialto Center for the Performing Arts (although it pays to get a seat down front), and the writing feels fresher than it did when I first saw it in New York earlier this year.
“Matt & Ben� is a wonderfully over-the-top pop-culture putdown. That two females can inject so much testosterone into this bonanza of bad taste is what makes it such a giddy gagfest.
The verdict: Wicked, and well-deserved, satire.
8 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 2. $10-$35. Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, 80 Forsyth St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-651-4727, www.nederlanderworld.com/mattandben.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Theater
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By Hilary
September 22, 2004 11:44 AM | Link to this
I was wondering how that show would fit at the Rialto. It seems better suited to a smaller theatre, but now I’m intrigued enough to go.
I like the new arts blogs!
By Rachel
September 23, 2004 4:03 PM | Link to this
I went to Matt & Ben on Tuesday and thought it was a riot! WOW!
By Lily
September 24, 2004 11:11 AM | Link to this
I went on Tuesday and felt it was amusing but not extremely clever. The main source of humor, Ben’s stupidity, was used over and over again. I expected something a little more fresh and witty.