Since Jerry Seinfeld hit pay dirt with his little sitcom about four loathsome narcissists doing nothing, writers everywhere have tossed their hat into that ring. Unfortunately, some laughter and a few clever plotlines aside, none have come close to the magic that is “Seinfeld.”
And despite a solid production by the Huntington Theatre Company, Gina Gionfriddo’s “Becky Shaw” offers little more than unlikable characters and witty banter. Sure you’ll laugh in all the right places and of course you’ll delight when the bad guys offer up their horrifying, amoral, yet funny, solutions to the problems at hand. But it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.
Seth Fisher delivers an impeccable performance as Max Garrett, the lothario who defends his lifestyle with harsh words and caustic wit. Fisher frequently teeters on the brink of scumbag but it’s hard to hate this good-looking, successful womanizing man when he constantly rescues a childhood friend and her not-so-innocent, recently widowed mother.
Maureen Anderman gets all the best lines as said widow Susan Slater and her delivery is so good that it’s almost worth sitting through this strange story of a bad date gone awry just to enjoy her grand pronouncements. Almost, that is.
‘Becky Shaw’
Through Sunday
Huntington Theatre
MBTA: Green line to Symphony
$20 – $83, 617-266-0800
