"'Mr. Parker' is not the kind of play that springs surprises on the audience, so its denouement is entirely predictable. And that is perhaps the show’s biggest asset: Real life can be ho-hum, too. One day you can’t move on, and the next, you can."
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The kind of attraction often booked in June when LGBTQ tourists come to town for Pride month, it doesn't really fall into the gaysploitation category although there is enough nudity in one scene to require audience members to deposit their cellphones in Yondr pockets. But it knows its target audience, who may very well overlook its soapier aspects. And it provides three skilled actors with a solid workout. At the same time, it never solves its central problem: Who is the title character of Michael McKeever's play and why should we care about him?
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"Beautifully performed by its cast of three, the play borrows tropes from stories of widowhood and rearranges them into a tender tale of a heart and a life on the mend."
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Mr. Parker, the latest play by Michael McKeever whose Daniel’s Husband has been produced twice Off Broadway, has been given a stylish production by director Joe Brancato who also directed the earlier play. David Goldstein’s one room studio set situated in the East Village is elegant and cozy. The costumes by Myra Oney are chic. The acting by its trio of actors is polished and urbane. Even its premise of a gay man dealing with the sudden death of a long-time partner and husband is up-to-date and timely. However, as written the play seems superficial and slight. Dramatically it avoids all the big scenes that might have been included. It remains entertaining but without the payoff one wants in such a drama.
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There’s nothing in Mr. Parker that’s artistically or thematically groundbreaking, and the situations and characters are familiar; but, in the capable hands of its director and three actors, it maintains a level of solid interest sufficient for an hour and a half of quality theater. One of the play’s dominant themes is about “legacies”—what we leave for those who come after to remember. Whatever else Mr. Parker’s legacy turns out to be, I’m afraid that in many minds it’s going to have something to do with a pouch and a penis.
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"'Mr. Parker' is well-structured, literate, economical (it clocks in at about 85 minutes), and intermittently touching. It has an important drawback: We’re not buying it. What does Justin see in Terry, beyond the fancy duds and dinners at Blue Hill that Terry buys him? Why has Terry soured on all his friends, and why is Cassandra always so cross? And why does Justin ... appear to have so little life outside of this one room?"
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