A piece with a different name

Sitting down at the Southampton Cultural Center to watch Terrence McNally’s It’s Only a Play at Boots on the Ground Theater was an existential theatrical experience. Directed by Bob Kaplan, the play takes a close look at the theater business, from actors to directors to producers to writers and, yes, even theater critics. Nobody is safe.

“It’s Only a Play” opens with an opening party for a Broadway show, and even though the Mets were fighting for their lives in the National League Championship Series that night, I was immediately on board. The world of theater is something I’m very familiar with, and seeing the meta-narrative come to life, with lots of egos inflated and bruised, gives the show a lived-in feel.

The immersion is thanks to Matthew O’Connor, who plays James Wicker, an actor who rose to fame through his syndicated series on ABC. Mr. O’Connor is the anchor of the production, rarely leaving the stage and providing the audience with a grounding effect in the face of a cavalcade of chaotic characters.

Among them are Bonnie Grice as Virginia Noyes, a Hollywood actress who gets another chance at relevance on Broadway, baffled ankle monitor be damned, Gillian Schroeder as Julia Budder, a new producer who is still learning a thing or two about producing must, and Eileen Trilli as Patricia Austin, a playwright who feels called to (eventually) write the next great American play, Huck Hirsch as Sir Frank Finger, a British director and daring kleptomaniac who longs to break away from his success, Brandon Richard Battiste as Gus P. Head, a wide-eyed New Yorker desperate to impress the partygoers, and my personal surrogate, Ira Drew, played by Phil Eberhardt, a theater critic who is both is hated because of the productions he has criticized as well as because of the newspapers he has worked.

Most of the show follows the opening party as everyone waits for the first reviews of the piece. Every character has hopes for the show’s eventual success, and the stress manifests itself in outbursts of chaos, even in full-length They fell to their knees and begged God at length for a good review.

The strength of this production is the character work. Although the show can have slow moments and drags a bit in the first act, it is ultimately elevated by the humor of the actors and the way they work with each other.

The costumes are by Ms. Grice, the set design and props are by Mr. Kaplan and Ms. Schroeder. The stage manager is Evelyn Lubrano, lighting is by Daniel Schappert and Andrew Herzman, and sound is by Dennis Milone and Chris Buckhout.

It’s Only a Play runs at the Southampton Cultural Center on Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 3pm until November 3rd. Tickets are $35 or $25 for students on the cultural center’s website.