In Bed With Roy Cohn
by Joan Beber
directed by Katrin Hilbe
presented by Undercover Productions
with Nelson Avidon, Christopher Daftsios, Rebeca Fong, Ian Gould, Andy Reinhardt, Lee Roy Rogers, Marilyn Sokol, Serge Thony
at The Lion Theatre, Theatre Row, NYC
This was the second play we looked after by Joan Beber, and Joan’s second play that involved Roy Cohn. This was a great subject of fascination for her, one she would mine also in Ethel Sings.
The play takes place in a kind of dream world: in the bedroom of a sleek Manhattan high-rise apartment where Roy Cohn lies in bed. From there he receivied visitors, both real and imagined during his death throes as a result of what he insisted was liver cancer but what history knows was AIDS. As characters float in and out of the room, from his lover Serge, to Ronald Reagan to the ghost of Julius Rosenberg . All the while his maid, Lisette cleans up around them. They're all rough caricatures and exist primarily to draw from Cohn's endless well of abuse and insecurity. Meanwhile, Cohn's younger self silently observes everything, often from a small room that floats high above the stage.
Theatremania said: “Katrin Hilbe directs it all with the precision of a ballet master, the actors leaping across stage, hustling in and out of new costumes (stylish and essential design by Karen Ann Ledger). Gertjan Houben's projections illuminate key moments and add to the overall schizophrenic feel of the mise-en-scène. Everything is executed flawlessly…”