Michael Zegen has etched his place in the hearts of Jewish fans for his brilliant banter with Rachel Brosnahan as they portrayed Joel and Midge with unforgettable conversations on the Amazon hit series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
In “Strategic Love Play” at Minetta Lane Theatre in Manhattan, he plays Adam, a funny and self-deprecating guy who thinks his date might be a dud. Heléne Yorke plays Jenny, who is nervous and aggressive from the jump. With the emotional baggage these two have, if the play took place on an airplane, it would get expensive.
It’s a firecracker of a play with two people who sit at a table and the stakes seesaw and we don’t know if the characters will want to kill or kiss each other. The script, by “Succession” writer Miriam Battye, keeps the tension at a brisk boil. Produced by Audible Theater, “Strategic Love Play” is about the kind of dates we don’t see on stage or on screen.
Was it hard to go from the magic he made with Brosnahan, where both characters loved each other, to this play, where it’s a first date full of animosity?
“Luckily, I was able to have a co-star in Heléne Yorke,” Zegen said. “She could have chemistry with anything and anybody… That could have been a disaster if I hated my co-star.”
It’s an understatement to say Adam and Jenny start off on the wrong foot. At first, we think it might end as a five-minute speed-date. Both are defensive. Adam does something with a bag of Lay’s potato chips (as someone who was once nearly addicted to this snack, I was intrigued by this) but breaks a cardinal rule of dating that could put the night in jeopardy. But can they overcome the obstacles in their way?
Who among us has not been on a date with someone who reeked of dirty laundry, but perhaps after a while, the smell dissipated?
Jenny has a trick up her sleeve and it’s a shocker.
In only 90 minutes, the conversation takes some twists and turns, and the ending is certainly unexpected. There is one insult Adam says that angers the audience.
“It’s a terrible thing to say,” Zegen said of what his character’s verbal joust. “Every night, it gets a big reaction, and I love it. It’s my job to get a big reaction out of the audience.”
Zegen and Yorke play off each other well and have a strange chemistry that works. He says she is fishing for compliments. She tells him he is not a nice guy, using a word from the male anatomy.
Asked about advice for Jewish singles, Zegen said it is important to be honest about what is important to someone.
“As a Jew, I feel like if being important to you is being Jewish, you need to say it outright if you are dating a Jew or not, mention how important it is to you,” Zegen said.
Zegen said his fiancé, actress Jennifer Damiano, converted to Judaism on Nov. 25.
“We talked about it early on and she knew how important it was to me and my family,” Zegen said. “… It’s beautiful that she did it for me. It’s a huge deal.”
The couple met when they starred in the musical “Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice” a play based on the 1969 film with the same name.
As for any signs that someone might not be suitable to date, Zegen said there is one that stands out.
“Somebody who’s rude to a waiter or waitress, that’s a big red flag,” he said. “You don’t want to be with somebody who looks at people as less than. We’re all human beings and deserve to be treated equally.”
In “Strategic Love Play” the characters get equal time, take the same shots at each other, and the feelings are heated. The show has a lot of laughs and the truth that in some cases, one has to get past people’s facades to try to get to who they really are. If you’re looking for typical puffery, this show is not for you. If you’re interested in taking a dive into the minefields that singles face while dating and being told by friends and family that they are doing things wrong, you should get your tickets now.
Zegen asked if JDate still exists (it does but people also use JSwipe and other apps) and he said he knew there was a need for a play like this.
“When I read it, I immediately knew I wanted to do it because it was so funny and relatable,” he said. “I thought it would resonate with young people who are on the apps and dating websites. It was lightning in a bottle for me.”
“When I read it, I immediately knew I wanted to do it because it was so funny and relatable. I thought it would resonate with young people who are on the apps and dating websites. It was lightning in a bottle for me.”
Zegen can also be seen as mafia man Andrew Falcone in Max’s “The Penguin” where Zegen has a key scene with a barely recognizable Colin Farrell. He also played an infamous Jewish gangster on the HBO hit “Boardwalk Empire.”
“There was nothing more fun than playing Bugsy Siegel,” Zegen said. “I wish that had continued and we got to see more of him.”
Asked which role was similar to the real Michael, he said there is a little bit of him if everything, but as he owns no gun and doesn’t run a club like Joel did, he pointed to a role from a play he did more than a decade ago called “Bad Jews.”
Written by Joshua Harmon, the 2013 play at the Roundabout Theater centered on two cousins battling over their dead grandfather’s chai necklace, which had been smuggled under his tongue in a concentration camp. Zegen explained his character was more secular and his cousin was a woman who wanted it for religious reasons.
As for the biggest challenge of “Strategic Love Play,” Zegen said it was clear.
“There are so many lines and it’s two of us,” he said. “I’d never done a two-hander. It’s the kind of thing where if one person forgets a line it’s panic. But we’ve been doing it enough to this point, if someone does forget a line, we’re well-equipped.”
Directed by Katie Posner, “Strategic Love Play” poignantly examines crucial questions all singles face: how truthful and vulnerable should we allow ourselves to be on dates, and how can we avoid making an unbearable blunder. It’s an emotional tightrope where you’re barefoot and no one will catch you if you fall. It’s also educational and might save you from turning off a potential soulmate. The play reminds you in a land of lies, nobody’s Abe Lincoln, nobody’s Pinocchio and you have to trust your gut, though it’s a good idea to have some strategy.
“Strategic Love Play” runs through December 7 at Minetta Lane Theatre.
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