David Greenspan may be the most prolific downtown theater artist you’ve surely heard of but forgotten why. Chances are, the particulars are a bit murky.
As a refresher, the boldly queer actor/playwright/director has dazzled — and occasionally baffled — theatregoers for nearly four decades, garnering six Obie Awards along the way. One Obie was for his turn in Terrence McNally’s 2007 gay epic “Some Men.” He’s a master of the solo show, tackling such experimental projects as Eugene O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude,” where he played every character in the five-hour drama. Five hours! He also embodied everybody in “The Patsy,” “The Myopia,” and “Four Saints in Three Acts,” the chaotic Gertrude Stein opera.
Is this ringing a bell yet?
If not, that would suit Greenspan and Mona Pirnot just fine. Pirnot, you see, is the author of the latest piece starring Greenspan, archly titled “I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan,” now at Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2. The comic drama, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll, leverages Greenspan’s relative obscurity as a jumping off point, as well as a recurring joke.
The real crux of the play, however, is a question long gnawing at his heart. What drives playwrights to persevere despite the headaches, hurdles, paltry stipends, and formidable odds for success, when they’ve got more lucrative options? Think of it as yet another spin on the timeworn battle between art and commerce.
The piece takes place in a Brooklyn apartment in summer 2022, where Emmy has asked friends Mona, also a playwright, and Sierra, who has successfully pivoted to television writing, to do a reading of her latest work, and afterwards voice their honest opinion. The catch: If it’s thumbs down, she’s quitting the theater biz for good.
Besides reciting the narration, Greenspan miraculously portrays every character, all of them women. Naturally, the “Who the heck is David Greenspan” joke takes on a woozy metatheatrical aspect when delivered by the man himself.
With adroit physicality, Greenspan doesn’t so much delineate the characters as shapeshift, conveying a suggestion of each individual. Depending on the line, he articulates with a hop or a turn or a kick. Sometimes it’s as subtle as a raised eyebrow or pinky. Or a half-sneer. Even at age 69, this dynamo does not skip a beat.
Mona is in awe as well. “The way he differentiates the characters is so fluid, so elegant, so embodied,” she says. “He’s not like, ‘Rawr rawr rawr I’m a man’ or ‘Ooh ooo ooo I’m a woman.’ He’s just slips in and out of everyone.”
If they gave choreographer credits for dramas without music, Greenspan, with his acrobatic delivery, would certainly receive one. The set, by Arnulfo Maldonado, is completely bare except a long, padded bench. Not only must we envisage the characters, but Emmy’s apartment as well.
After a heady debate about the merits of playwriting and the exodus of theater writers into television, Mona pitches her idea for a new play about — you guessed it — David Greenspan. At this light-bulb moment, astute theatergoers will realize that Mona in the play is meant to be, or at least evoke, Mona Pirnot. While Emmy is somewhat familiar with his work, Sierra has no clue who he is. She likens theater to a cult that writers are better off escaping from, like herself.
The fact that the entire scheme hinges on David Greenspan agreeing to do the project doesn’t deter Mona. Meanwhile, Sierra urges her to try her hand at writing a screenplay. Midway through the 90-minute performance, Mona asserts that theater artists like David Greenspan make it all worthwhile.
“Even though we have no money and no security and no promise that it will get better, we stick with it because every once in a while we get to see David Greenspan onstage,” Mona says. “And we want to make other people feel it.”
After witnessing Greenspan’s virtuoso performance in “I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan,” we fully understand where Mona is coming from. Hopefully, young playwrights will be inspired as well.
“I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan” | Atlantic Theater Stage 2 | 330 West 16th St. | $82-$102 | Through April 30, 2025 | 90 min., no intermission
