Secret Order

This somewhat overheated drama gives us a young scientist pursuing breakthrough cancer research who is pressured into dishonesty by high expectations and the lure of big rewards. The play is predictable, but also uncomfortable, even disagreeable. There's no one to root for. Still, it's at times absorbing. William Shumway, as the researcher, is sturdy, if at times awkward. The only female in the cast, Angela Goethals, overacts. Veterans Richard Schiff and George Segal do an effortlessly skilled job, perhaps verging sometimes into shtick--Schiff, the slick, abrupt man-in-charge; Segal, a crafty old Jewish survivor of turf wars. An added interview with a medical researcher casts helpful light on the play but is marred by the interviewer's insistence on her own points. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2008
This recording of the West Coast premiere of Clyman's 2007 Off-Broadway play starring Richard Schiff ("The West Wing") and George Segal ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?") centers on a young scientist's search for a cure for cancer. Its move from an audiovisual to a strictly audio performance is strikingly successful thanks to top-rate acting on the one end and smooth postproduction editing on the other. With each disc divided into approximately 20 tracks, this would make an especially useful teaching tool for aspiring playwrights and storytellers wanting to anatomize scene/act structure. [At one time, as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's "Relativities" series, this was a free iTunes podcast; audio clip available through www.latw.org.Ed.]Raya Kuzyk, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.