On & Off Broadway

‘The Babylon Line’

Review by Elyse Trevers

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If you take the LIRR (the reverse commute,) you can easily identify with Aaron Port (Josh Radnor) who travels to Levittown each week to teach an adult ed class on creative writing. If you’ve ever taught, you can connect with him when he asks students to read, only to have them all avert their eyes. Before the class even begins, three Jewish women are quick to explain to him that they are only there because the classes they wanted were already closed out. The other three students are Jack (Frank Wood), Marc (Michael Oberholtzer) and Joan (Elizabeth Reaser).

Aaron’s approach toward teaching is not to. He offers no comments or critiques and is quick to remind the students that he is not a teacher. They read and all he asks is “any comments?”

The personalities of the participants become more apparent as the class progresses. A relationship develops between Aaron and Joan. The audience waits for it to move to another level, yet it never does. Although childless and without a job, Joan still lives in Levitttown, a family community. When she finally reads her work, her stories depict darkness and isolation. Reaser has a strange Southern twang and seems a bit distant.


The standout character and performance in the play belongs to Frieda Cohen (Randy Graff). Graff is so self-righteous and confident that it’s fun to dislike her. The drama at Lincoln Center will feel familiar to many because of Cohen and her two friends and references made to TSS stores and ice cream at Jahn’s. The characters provide humor, yet all have a deep sadness about their lives. Radnor is sincere, with much of his dialogue addressed directly to the audience.

Playwright Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out) has a marvelous facility with language and uses incredible literate references. Yet the dialogue doesn’t ring true coming from average people in ordinary conversations.

The play begins in 2015 but the action occurs in 1967. So when the class comes to a conclusion, the show continues as Aaron explains what happens to each of them. However, the conclusion goes on for 15-20 minutes unnecessarily. Sometimes in writing, you just have to know when to write “The End.”