LOVING LITTLE EGYPT
This last flaw is the worst, because the key to Loving Little Egypt–a witty blend of real and fictitious events in the manner of E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime–is the complexity of highly intelligent, often ruthless characters. The story is propelled by the actions of a group of scientific geniuses whose brilliance, accompanied (and perhaps stimulated) by their physical limitations, sets them apart from the world in which they still must live. Aloof, insecure, short-fused, and highly competitive, the eggheads that populate this delightful tall tale chafe against each other–and against the less gifted people around them–in ways that are often unpleasant; bringing these folks alive onstage requires actors able, and a director willing, to dig into the murky areas where intellect and emotions collide. Instead, Griffin Theatre gives us cute curmudgeons–and slow-moving ones at that.
