When I heard that the name of the new play by Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play was 
The Motherf**ker with the Hat, I had to laugh. The other plays I had seen by this subversive playwright also had peculiar names: Our Lady on 121st Street and Jesus Hopped the A Train. The play is also produced by the LAByrinth Theater, one of the better theaters in NYC. All that, and you get a cast that includes Chris Rock, Bobby Carnavale, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Annabella Sciorra and Yul Vasquez. I was definitely intrigued.
In case you were wondering, yes, we do hear the actual word Motherf**ker continuously throughout the play. It is the play’s centerpiece (the hat), and we do find out who the Motherf**ker in the Hat is. It actually isn’t a surprise when we do. The play is about adultery, infidelity and disloyalty, so I had a feeling the Motherf**ker was a certain someone (I promise not to reveal the details).
Jackie, played by Carnavale, and Veronica, played by Rodriguez have been a couple since they were kids. They’ve been through a lot together. He has just gotten off parole and come home to prepare them both for a better future. She’s a drug addict and isn’t mentally prepared for his return. But they have a happy reunion and are clearly happy to see each other. But before they get very far, he sees a hat on the table. Near the door. A man’s hat. He gets upset. Very upset. She kicks him out and he goes running to his sponsor, Ralph, played by Chris Rock, who invites him to stay with him and his wife, played by Sciorra (one of my favorite film actresses from the 1980s). The instant we see Ralph, we know that something is up and it doesn’t take long before we find out that he has a twisted and evil side. Jackie’s cousin, played by Vasquez, helps Jackie along the way, as he tries to get himself back to Veronica, who he loves madly.
There are some very good performances in this show – and some mediocre ones. Wondering who? The show belongs to Bobby Carnavale. To me, he can do no wrong, and in this play, he pulls out all the stops. Exhilarated in one moment, desperate in another, pulling a trigger in the next. He shows his whole acting range and his performance is electric and exciting. Elizabeth Rodriguez is equally as good. She was made for this role and plays a drug addict who’s trying to make something of herself with many obstacles set before her. The weaker links, unfortunately, are Chris Rock and Annabella Sciorra. Rock, as much as I had hoped to like him on stage in his Broadway debut ,let me down. He was not in the slightest believable and I got the feeling he just wanted to get his words out and be done with his time on stage. Maybe his performance will improve as his comfort level on stage grows, but he is a comedian and has been on stage a million times. I think he should stick to his comedy routine and leave theater alone. Sciorra was fine, just not amazing. Her role is small and perhaps she did not have enough stage time to prove her theater skills. Vasquez, on the other hand, is very funny and makes a lot of his role, which is also on the small side. I loved his performance and really appreciated the scenes that included just him and Carnavale.
But on the whole, I did enjoy this play. It made me laugh, it made me uncomfortable, it made me think….all the things a good play should make you do.
The Motherf**ker with the Hat is playing at the Schoenfeld Theatre. Ticket information can be found here.
Disclosure: I was not compensated to write this review. These tickets were purchased and paid for by myself.
I’m so glad you reviewed this! Chris Rock was on Letterman the other day…and yes of course he was hilarious doing his shtick. But I wondered how that would translate onto the stage…and now, thanks to you, I know!