By: Darryl Reilly
“Say the word and she’s fucking Marie Antoniette!” roars Rebecca De Mornay while holding a large kitchen knife at the throat of a gun-toting troublemaker during John Patrick Shanley’s new and wild black comedy The Pushover.
The Oscar and Pulitzer Prize-winning Mr. Shanley is joyously in his distinctive terrain of an offbeat plot, violence, and earthy articulate characters. “I can’t love somebody as stupid as you” is uttered in this rollicking lesbian romantic triangle yarn with film noir flourishes. Out of the Past comes to mind.
“I’m a pushover just like my mother, my father walked all over her” says the fortyish Pearl to her Manhattan therapist during the play’s opening framing device, she often neurotically wears white gloves. She is an Asian American chef who was formerly successful, once owning several popular Asian fusion restaurants. She is now destitute, reduced to running a sole Queens takeout joint named “Chop Sticks.” This downfall is due to her falling madly in love with the female thirtyish Soochi, an accountant whom she made the manager of her venues. Soochi turned out to be a cocaine addicted gambler who embezzled $400,000. Pearl vengefully contrives a New Mexico business trip for Soochi to strategically visit her ex-wife, the hardboiled fiftyish Evelyn. She is a shady wellness resort tycoon with underworld connections. Will Evelyn whack Soochi or will she fall for her?
In The Pushover Shanley spins out his seamy scenario through his characteristically expressive dialogue, well-shaped scenes, and off the wall incidents. The Pushover is no Moonstruck or Doubt, but it is an exuberant 90-minute entertainment. The venerable 75-year-old Shanley remains a supreme dramatist.
The lean, gruff, and seemingly ageless Ms. De Mornay is ferocious as Evelyn. She marvelously is in Barbara Stanwyck mode as this archetypical tough broad. Beaming and animated Di Zhu is wondrous as Pearl. Christina Toth is a jittery and ingratiating whirlwind as Soochi. With Pinteresque verve, the sunny Christopher Sutton steals his scenes as the therapist and as a menacing spa attendant.
Director Kirk Gostkowski’s energetic and emphatic physical staging mines all of the piece’s possible comedy and drama. Jackson Berkley’s utilitarian scenic design artfully represents the diverse locations. Lighting designer Dariel Garcia mostly provides skillful brightness which highlight the loopy events, while crashing blackouts punctuate scene transitions. Greg Russ’ sound design renders the musical snippets and effects with flare. From blazing orange resort robes to gleaming white kitchen wear and flamboyant idiosyncratic garments, Debbi Hobson’s costume design is laudable.
The Pushover is an exhilarating diversion and a credible addition to John Patrick Shanley’s oeuvre. This world premiere production is presented by the New York City-based Chain Theatre.
The Pushover (through May 2, 2026)
Chain Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.chaintheatre.org
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission