Description
Peter Shaffer's 1979 dark comedy may be middle-named for Mozart and narrated by rival-in-his-own-mind Salieri, but the play isn't really about either composer. Instead, it's a wry, unexpectedly moving treatise on genius, jealousy and justice. To wit: Where's the justice in recognizing mediocrity in the worthy (i.e., ourselves, obviously) and genius in the undeserving (everybody else)? Gary Griffin's well-cast revival, while visually extravagant, sticks close to the emotional core. Though he may be better suited as Salieri ten years from now, Robert Sella is a technically proficient actor whose mechanisms don't become clear until long after we've left the theater. But it's Robbie Collier Sublett, as Mozart, who astonishes. By the end, we forget where our sympathies lie; we're pretty sure that's justice in the end.—