It’s a 150-foot spaceship in the middle of Manhattan, a stairwell to nowhere, a $200 million monumental misfire that New Yorkers love to mock. The Vessel is a troubled tourist attraction ready-made to deconstruct. It might feel natural to do so comically. But playwright Brendan George focuses instead on the real tragedy connected to the structure – within the two years after its opening in 2019, four people jumped from it to their deaths – and the imagined effect on three fictional characters hired to make sure such tragedies do not keep on happening.
“We’re hired to prevent distress. Or to intervene. Ultimately, we’re security guards,” Drake (portrayed by Sofonyas) explains to Viggo (Will Ingram), a new employee
“We’re ambassadors,” Missy (Anastasia Locke) corrects Drake.
“The Vessel” has some interesting things to say about corporate neglect, and the camaraderie that develops among $15-an-hour wage workers. Each of the characters gets backstories, some more concrete than others. Drake, a font of information about the Vessel, is also the most cynical: “They could’ve planted trees and flowers, which everyone would have loved. But, no… something shiny to look at from their empty investment property.” Drake was the first to work at the Vessel; he quit his previous job, a security guard at an elementary school, when, one the one day he was out sick, a shooter attempted to attack the school. Viggo is a new New Yorker, having escaped his Moonlrmon family in Utah.
But one leaves “The Vessel” with the impression that the playwright felt required to put together a 90-minute play, but didn’t know how to fill it. So we get Viggo awkwardly flirting with Missy, which goes nowhere, and dissertations on dolphins, and on how pasture-raised chickens are better than merely cage-free chickens, and various long rants, and moments of stunned silence that are meant to be poignant. Only the one-named Sofonyas has the acting chops consistently to make the best of these digressions. But even Viggo, who is meant to be annoying, eventually conveys the enthusiasm for his job despite everything: “I choose this! For now, anyway. I choose this upside-down-pineapple-honeycomb-spaceship-shawarma-Eiffel Tower-Rockefeller-Christmas-Tree-thing because I like it! Or I like the people, and I feel connected.”
The Vessel
Through the Tollbooth Co at 59e59 through August 23
Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $42
Written by Brendan George
Directed by Peter Charney
Scenic design by Tony DiBernardo, lighting design by Yiyuan Li, props design by Nicole Yagar, and R.S. Dennis as Stage Manager.
Cast: Sofonyas as Drake, Anastasia Locke as Missy, and Will Ingram as Vïggo.
