So I saw Permission today. It was...OK. Honestly, it was a bit disappointing. The play is about two married couples in the American South. The one with Lucas Near and Nicole Lowrance is initially portrayed as the more successful and "with it" couple, while the one with Justin Bartha and Elizabeth Reaser (recently seen on Mad Men) is struggling.
In the opening scene the Bartha Couple is at the other couple's house for dinner. Nicole Lowrance's character, Shelly, does three things to upset her husband, with each getting an additional finger raised by him. With the third "stirke", he asks to see her in the kitchen. The two then leave the scene and go into an area obscured by the curtain. We hear some struggling and a "NO!" on the part of Shelly. Bartha and Reaser's characters can't help themselves and are listening in. Finally they open the door to the kitchen, which corresponds with the curtain being lifted. We are treated to a head on view of Shelly's butt, with her skirt lifted. She's on Near's knee but is basically perpendicular to him. She gets one solid whack before Bartha and Reaser, and by extension the audience, leave. It was a great scene, well-choreographed and with a great view of Ms. Lowrance's pantied rear end.
Unfortunately, that's the best we get from the play. The plot from there is obvious. Bartha and Reaser adopt the Christian Domestic Discipline lifestyle and see their lives improve. Act 1 ends with Bartha giving Lowrance her first spanking. In Act 2, there are 3 spankings but all are pretty blah. It's clear the punches are being pulled, but even if they were full force they wouldn't have been that great. Unlike the first one, we are looking at the actress' faces rather than their behinds. And they are all given on their skirt or pants.
As a play, Permission is pretty mediocre. I'm basically plagiarizing the Times here, but I think it struggles to figure out whether it should be a comedy or a drama. I'm not sure what message it was trying to portray at all. Of course, it was a play primarily about spanking (though the word is only used maybe a half dozen times), so it did appeal to me on that level. Maybe I just went in with expectations that were too high.
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone who does not live in New York and does not have east access to the play may have.
In the opening scene the Bartha Couple is at the other couple's house for dinner. Nicole Lowrance's character, Shelly, does three things to upset her husband, with each getting an additional finger raised by him. With the third "stirke", he asks to see her in the kitchen. The two then leave the scene and go into an area obscured by the curtain. We hear some struggling and a "NO!" on the part of Shelly. Bartha and Reaser's characters can't help themselves and are listening in. Finally they open the door to the kitchen, which corresponds with the curtain being lifted. We are treated to a head on view of Shelly's butt, with her skirt lifted. She's on Near's knee but is basically perpendicular to him. She gets one solid whack before Bartha and Reaser, and by extension the audience, leave. It was a great scene, well-choreographed and with a great view of Ms. Lowrance's pantied rear end.
Unfortunately, that's the best we get from the play. The plot from there is obvious. Bartha and Reaser adopt the Christian Domestic Discipline lifestyle and see their lives improve. Act 1 ends with Bartha giving Lowrance her first spanking. In Act 2, there are 3 spankings but all are pretty blah. It's clear the punches are being pulled, but even if they were full force they wouldn't have been that great. Unlike the first one, we are looking at the actress' faces rather than their behinds. And they are all given on their skirt or pants.
As a play, Permission is pretty mediocre. I'm basically plagiarizing the Times here, but I think it struggles to figure out whether it should be a comedy or a drama. I'm not sure what message it was trying to portray at all. Of course, it was a play primarily about spanking (though the word is only used maybe a half dozen times), so it did appeal to me on that level. Maybe I just went in with expectations that were too high.
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone who does not live in New York and does not have east access to the play may have.