The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe--Lacks the Impact of the Original

    By Joseph Cervelli

Jane Wagner's 1985 hit play "The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe" boasted an incredibly brilliant solo performance by Lily Tomlin portraying about twelve characters. The word portray does not accurately describe her ability to almost literally morph into each of them-- both male and female. The play itself while entertainingly clever could be a bit bewildering.  Yet, Tomlin clearly delineated each of the characters so you understood where Wagner was going.

With Cecily Strong now taking over Tomlin's role in a new revival at the beautiful Griffin Theater at The Shed, the show as not necessarily worn well with time. Wagner's tale of the interconnection and observations between men and women along with feminism and the arts seems frequently outdated. When Trudy the self proclaimed "crazy" homeless woman whom we are first introduced to and acts as a kind of narrator states, "I refuse to be intimated by reality anymore" it does not seem to have the effectiveness it once did. And when one character states that he reads The World Street Journal on acid it evokes a chuckle if not more. The alluding to Andy Warhol several times with art vs. soup falls flat. 

In order for this show to work with the multitude of characters you need an actor who can not only infiltrate but define that person. Strong is good but she never gets into the core of any of them even though she starts well with the first,  Trudy,  who is waiting for her alien friends to arrive. Appearing on Saturday Night Live for the past 10 years she can appear amusing and tender in her portrayals on stage, but she needs to do more. She should try to change her voice intonation more than she does and get into the various characters' psyche which which she rarely does. 

She does a fine job of portraying the rambunctious teen Agnes who wants to be a performance artist and  whose parents lock her out of the house.

While Chrissy is the young woman unable to hold any job Strong does not seem to have a grip on her role to make her more pertinent. 

Strong does better with the snobby socialite Kate who can't stand her hairdresser whom she amusingly calls Bucci The Arrogant  Her line about seeing an "uplifting" show had her "dozing off" probably  still resonates with theatergoers feeling obligated to like shows just because they may have gotten rave reviews. 

I had wished she portrayed the somewhat obnoxious Paul with greater fortitude creating more laughter about his attitude towards sex. I loved the line about his sex urge being "industrial strength" but minus any desire.

Strong does much better as the compassionate and lovable sex workers Brandy and Tina.

As Lyn, Edie and Marge there is a discussion of  the feminist movement which is more of a retrospective. While this is fine and certainly still pertinent, it needed to be updated to bring a fresher feel.  And Strong lacks the punch to make it as effective as it should be so basically it feels like a history lesson. 

Director Leigh Silverman could have had Strong show more vigor in creating the characters and there was no need for several props and an unnecessary colorful belts one of the characters wears later in the play. One other issue that works to the detriment of the show is the fact what was once a two and half hour or so play is now one hour forty five minutes. Not sure if this was Silverman's or Wagner's decision but not a good one. It takes a while to understand each character and the shortening of the play makes them more superficial than they should be.

While I still admire Wagner's work, with few updates it is less than dazzling and unless you have a highly animated and deeply believable characterization of every person the playwright has created you may find your interest sagging.  Sadly, that was how I felt. 

PHOTO CREDIT: KATE GLICKSBERG

Tickets are available at the Griffin Theater at The Shed 545 West 30th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues.)