Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra
Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra
broadwaybelter
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/26/04
#1Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra
Posted: 3/28/14 at 3:49pmPreviews start tomorrow. If anyone happens to catch this, can you post your thoughts?
broadwaybelter
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/26/04
#2Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra
Posted: 4/12/14 at 9:01pm
I caught the matinee today, and here's what I thought of it.
************************MILD SPOILERS**************************************
I had a little bit of a hard time getting into this play, and I almost left at intermission. But I was curious enough to sit through the second act, and I'm glad I did.
Similar in form to The Assembled Parties, where we catch up with the same family after a number of years have passed, Kama Sutra mostly takes place in the mid-1990s (Act 1) and then in 2012 (Act 2). I didn't realize this at first because I usually don't look at the Playbill before the show (I like to be surprised). The set design is pretty minimal, so that didn't give up enough clues. But I gradually realized how the two story lines were connected.
The basic premise seems to focus on how much of ourselves and our past we need to reveal to someone we're starting an intimate relationship with. Do we need to share all our secrets? Will holding something back jeopardize the closeness we can achieve? It's an interesting question, and not fully answered by the play, but definitely the playwright is leaning one way over the other. In this case, two of the characters are struggling with events that make them feel ashamed.
To compare it to The Assembled Parties again, I felt that the two halves of the Kama Sutra seemed vastly different from each other. As I was watching Act 2, I was thinking, "This is basically a different play altogether." But even though the focus shifted greatly, the playwright tied the two halves up in the end into something cohesive.
The performances I thought were excellent. I can't really pull out anyone because they were all good. I didn't recognize any of the six actors, all young, from previous works. The set design, as I mentioned, was pretty minimal. It's a nice, small theater on the fourth floor of Playwrights Horizons, a very good space for the work.
I find myself thinking about the play and the issues it raised, and that's a good thing.
Updated On: 4/13/14 at 09:01 PM
Luv2goToShows
Broadway Star Joined: 9/13/09
#3Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra
Posted: 4/13/14 at 8:30amThanks macnyc, seeing this in a couple of weeks.
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
