The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window Broadway Reviews

“Sidney Brustein” is more voracious than the polite naturalistic drama that was perhaps expected of Hansberry when her swan song was deemed to be too much. But it was also her clarion call, to demand more from people, their principles and the art that confronts them. Broadway would do well to heed her word.

Sidney Brustein, whom she has placed at the center of this crowded tragicomedy, is not an interesting person. This is not Isaac’s fault, although he ignores Hansberry’s stipulation that Sidney “laughs at himself as much as the world.” Isaac’s performance is mostly unremarkable but fine, sparking fully to life only in Sidney’s scenes with Iris’s wealthy, conventional sister, Mavis — the best role in the show, and the best played, by a thoroughly captivating Miriam Silverman. (The play is a Tony nominee for best revival; Silverman is its only acting nominee.)

“Mavis, the world is about to crack right down the middle. We’ve gotta change—or fall in the crack,” Sidney says to his judgmental sister-in-law. But how would running a non-political arty newspaper do to substantially counter any of that? And why does Sid talk about politics way more than art—given that he initially professes to embrace the latter and shun the former, and then spend hours lecturing people about politics and social change. Perhaps the play is a satire about white liberal intent and confusion, as embodied by Sidney and the other characters on stage. Whatever, time has outpaced it, and so just like Sidney, Iris, and the others, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window sadly ends up feeling stuck.

The beauty of Hansberry’s play almost makes up for Anne Kauffman’s production, which feels too unsure of itself to linger or make demands. Both Brosnahan and Isaac emit one-note performances that start high and strong but gradually deflate. Isaac, who is onstage almost the whole show, is at times charming and at times funny, but does not differentiate his performance enough through the first two acts. It is only in the third act’s devastation that Isaac finds something worth holding onto.