By David Rabe
Directed by Scott Elliott

Scenic Design Derek McLane, Costume Design Jeff Mahshie, Lighting Design Jeff Croiter, Sound Design Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen

Through the microcosm of a rural Connecticut mental health center, Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe conjures a whole American community on the edge. Like their patients and their families, Dr. Michaels (Ed Harris), his colleague Evangeline (Amy Madigan) and the clinic itself teeter between breakdown and survival, wielding dedication and humanity against the cunning, inventive adversary of mental illness, to hold onto the need to fight – and to live. Inspired by a real clinic, Rabe finds humor and compassion in a raft of richly drawn characters adrift in a society and a system stretched beyond capacity. Scott Elliott directs an ensemble cast of fourteen in this New York premiere.

Good for Otto, presented by the New Group at Signature Theater, offers a master class in acting from its impressive cast, yet the meandering plot and three-hour running time diminish the potency of its striking performances. Ed Harris is Dr. Michaels, a man dedicated to the noble yet difficult task of counseling those who come into the mental health clinic where he works, while he continuously battles his own demons. As one expects from the evergreen noteworthiness of Harris, he brings depth and sincerity to his portrayal of Michaels, creating a raw, yet weathered tenderness that struggles against the health care system he attempts to work alongside and the doubtful negativity that grates him, in the form of his dead mother (Charlotte Hope). Portions of the plot are in Dr. Michaels’s imagination, as when he conducts his patients in song. It’s poignant that he can create harmony in his mind, but cannot find the same success in reality. His patients do not become ‘perfect’ by any stretch in this fantasy, but they are okay, at least for a moment; he has done well by them and he can put his own guilt to rest, if only in his mind and accompanied by piano or tuba. I understand the intent …Read more