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According to Douglas Carter Beanes verse comedyFairycakes,magic functions just like the gig economy.
But even though everyone is whacking gamely away at Beanes conceit, nothing quite hammers his whimsy into charm.
There are a few reasons for the shows weird aridity.
First, theres a sourness at the heart of Beanes confection.
Most of the nutty plot involves couples splitting and getting back together, sometimes in new, queerer configurations.
But its less adorable elsewhere the plays key relationship, for instance, is skunked.
He nags and whines, and eventually throws a magic-destroying tantrum over her rejection.
Magic is restored because a woman stops saying no to a bad Puck.
The harder thing to bear, though, is Beanes decision to write the thing in verse.
Its telling, though, that the shows best moment comes when Beane deliberately breaks it.
In the second act, Puck disrupts fairylands magic, and poetry deserts all the characters at once.
You never loved it so much.
So its odd to see such a gifted comedian brought low, his strengths turned against him.
The show was all very cavalier, which made every song seem somehow wilder.
I know what youre thinking, Mac drawled.
Andshazam!It really was.
