Were New York Drama Critics Won Over by Stephen Belber's McReele?

Playwright Stephen Belber, known for Match, which had its world premiere on Broadway last season, now offers the political McReele. The new work occupies the Roundabout Theatre Company's the Laura Pels Theatre. Headlined by Anthony Mackie as the title character, the drama, directed by the red-hot Doug Hughes, opened off-Broadway on February 24. Did critics think the piece about an ex-death row inmate should be rewarded for good behavior?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "For anyone not completely fed up with political campaigns after the last presidential election, Stephen Belber's McReele offers an occasionally provocative discussion of race, politics and the media in contemporary America. The trouble is, the play consists of too much talk and very little action. Even more problematically, much of the plot rings McFalse… The cast tries to make Belber's civics lesson interesting. Mackie… has the presence and charisma to make us almost believe that Darius could be an instant senate candidate. As the reporter who saves him and ends up working on his campaign, O'Keefe is less compelling."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Since the characters are mostly politicians or journalists, it is hardly surprising that nobody has much faith in what anybody else says in McReele, Stephen Belber's long-winded, mixed-up drama about a magnetic but suspicious senatorial candidate… But even given the play's subject, the fog of mistrust that envelops this production from the Roundabout Theater Company feels disproportionately thick. The cast members, you see, appear to have serious trouble believing in their material. To be honest, it's hard to blame them. Of course, it follows that you can't blame the audience for feeling the same way."

Frank Scheck of The New York Post: "Although it never fails to maintain interest, the play seems to wander all over the map, from crime melodrama to political satire to a serious examination of the nature of personal redemption and the shifting courses of relationships. While many provocative ideas are put forth--it's a pleasure to listen to the character's compelling and entertaining arguments for his iconoclastic political positions--McReele, despite strong contributions from director Doug Hughes and the fine cast, ultimately tries to bite off more than it can comfortably chew."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "Anthony Mackie, who plays McReele, has a solidity that makes the character sympathetic throughout, but it might have been more interesting if we sensed something more complex or edgy under the surface… Michael O'Keefe handles the role of the reporter who helps free him and then becomes his campaign manager with understated charm. Jodi Long is funny as his TV star girlfriend. Portia, who plays McReele's wife, is stronger when she is being acid than when she erupts emotionally. Henry Strozier does subtle work in a variety of roles. Despite their energy and skill, the play seems as flat and bland as Neil Patel's sets."

David Rooney of Variety: "Like John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, it scrutinizes moral certainty and the suitability of a man to hold a position of power and influence. But despite enlisting the same capable directing hand in Doug Hughes, Belber's play rarely musters more than a dim echo of that far superior work's bristling tensions, remaining instead a talky, only faintly absorbing examination of poorly articulated issues… Continuing to make poor stage choices after last year's dismal Drowning Crow, Mackie comes across as smart and personable but conveys only a glimmer of the charisma he has in film roles… The play's shortcomings are given scant camouflage in Hughes' efficient but disappointingly routine staging and in Neil Patel's sterile set, made up mostly of modular panels and lent subtle distinctions by Michael Chybowski's lighting."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "Under Doug Hughes' cinematic direction, the drama moves with a breathlessness that doesn't seem believable or allow for much character development. Whatever sense you get of McReele is provided by the dynamic Anthony Mackie, who invests the man with a personality that is only hinted at in Belber's writing… Despite Mackie's considerable presence, McReele remains an unsatisfying enigma, a man determined to forge a new future, while conveniently forgetting what has gone before."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "Stephen Belber--who created a big, juicy character for Frank Langella on Broadway last spring in the improbable suspense sitcom Match--clearly knows his way around complicated personalities and twisty plots. But even director Doug Hughes, master of such lean, deep productions as Frozen and Doubt, has not been able to locate the play lurking within the verbosity of this script. Despite the commanding, chameleonic presence of Anthony Mackie as Darius, the work takes far too long to reveal its conflicts, and it upholsters too many revelations in clunky speechifying."