A Bullet Review: Big Love (at The Signature Theatre NYC 3/1/15)

Big Love, at the Signature Theatre, on 42d Street, by Charles Mee, starts before the actors appear with an eye popping Italian seaside villa stage set including a video of the glistening Mediterranean running across the rear wall of the stage, tropical flowers dangling above the audience’s head and large video projections of seaside birds on each wall.
The play is a modern day take on an ancient Greek play “The Denaids” about 50 women fleeing forced marriages to 50 cousins. In an unwelcome reminder of how much I never learned in college, the Playbill tells us that it’s “one of the oldest plays in the western world”.
The play is engaging fun because of its easy on the eyes, high energy talented cast with great voices and acrobatic floor slamming choreography, inspired by professional wrestling. The wonderful singing includes an unexpected Italian aria and my favorite when the sisters grab cordless mikes and belt out the female breaking free anthem “You Don’t Own Me”.
As the women plot their final exit strategy the play touches on some big ideas about oppression, rebellion and moral choices but ultimately descends into incomprehensible, three ring circus like - shall we just say - “liquified” chaos.
I don’t get opera, but plays like this one shed light on why opera fans buy expensive tickets to experience breathtaking talent even if what’s happening on stage is incomprehensible and dopey .