MADELINE SEIDMAN IS REMARKABLE
IN GARSIDE’S CAREER
Since 1995, the invaluable Mint Theatre Company has been unearthing lost, neglected plays from yesteryear. With artistic director Jonathan Bank at the helm, he has overseen the production of 60 revivals of worthy plays. Harold Brighouse’s Garside’s Career, which opened tonight, is the latest praiseworthy play to be produced at their current home at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
Harold Brighouse (1882-1958) may be best known for his play Hobson’s Choice. He’s been described as Northern England’s most respected and neglected playwright. Garside’s Career, finally enjoying a deserved New York premiere, follows the recent BA graduate Peter Garside (Daniel Marconi) who is perfectly content at spending his future newly married, writing journalism, and public speaking. The intoxicating feeling he gets when commanding a crowd from the top of a soapbox isn’t something his fiancée (Madeline Seidman) values as a worthy future. While she wishes him great prosperity, she sides against Peter’s mother (Amelia White) and his constituents who elect him as a MP (member of parliament). Through the four acts, (with one intermission) it’s easy to track his successful career with Kindall Almond’s wonderfully period costumes, going from working class to elite. The fact that Peter’s ego leads him down a cold, materialistic path makes the play more relevant and timelier than one might have expected. Turns out that 2025 is the perfect time to witness this witty, political satire.
The star of this production is Brighouse’s playwriting itself, followed by Stephanie Klapper’s casting of the women’s roles: Melissa Maxwell as Lady Mottram, Sara Haider as her daughter Gladys, Amelia White as Peter’s mother, and Madeline Seidman as Peter’s fiancée are all pitch perfect and grounded in this world without a false moment.
The same cannot be said for the men, with the exception of Avery Whitted who plays Freddie Mottram. He is reminiscent of the attractable and witty Dan Levy from Schitt’s Creek and gives the standout performance amongst the men. The other men, the working-class constituents, Paul Niebanck, Michael Schantz, and Erik Gratton are vocally too big for the space and their acting is evident within the small, intimate theater. Daniel Marconi feels miscast as the protagonist Peter Garside, failing to deliver the heart and carnality, matching his fiancée’s love. Peter’s dialogue in the end sounds more like a message from the playwright versus a heartfelt life lesson from which his character has truly experienced.
Set designers Christopher Swader and Justin Swader, as well as Matt Dixon‘s concept and direction, are a bit of a mess. Literally, set pieces and props are strewn across the backwall, and the cast must meticulously arrange each of the four sets onstage. To help cover the tedium, Music Director é boylan has the cast sing appropriate period sounding tunes, the most powerful of which carries us into act four with a haunting solo by Ms. Seidman, an actress whose day, no doubt, is headed her way. The way she listens onstage, with an interior monologue of heartfelt subtext, duty, and pain, it’s hard to keep your eyes off her. Such a powerful actress, she gives legitimacy to retitling this production, Garside’s Fiancée.
photos by Maria Baranova
Garside’s Career
The Mint Theatre Company
New York City Center Stage II, 131 W 55th St (between 6th & 7th avenues)
ends on March 15, 2025
for tickets, call 212.714.2442 x 45 or visit Mint
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