“Moonchild” Reviewed by The New York Times

The following review of the stage performance of Moonchild appeared in today’s New York Times

Moon for the Manipulator, Worshipping His Charisma

‘Moonchild’
Access Theater

“I am a giant among men!” L Ron Hubbard proclaims shortly after arriving at the California mansion of his hopped-up crackpot friend Jack Parsons for an extended, Tartuffe-like stay.

Whenever he gets time to himself apart from Jack (Eric Altheide) and Jack’s 16-year-old girlfriend (and sister-in-law), Betty (Abby Wathen), and the widely disliked financial adviser Billy (Andrew Shulman), Ron (Jonathan Cantor) whips a stack of index cards out of his pocket to practice his mantras: “You are courageous,” he chants to himself. “You are charismatic.” Soon enough in this snappy, quasihistorical living-room comedy, Ron has discarded the reminders and is working his manipulative magic on the Los Angeles-casual Satan-worshippers who – in between orgies – predict the dawning of a certain watery age.

Ultimately, “Moonchild,” directed by Alex Lippard, is a smart (and, given the Scientologists’ legal department, brave) farce betraying a real affection for shallow, power-hungry flakes up to no good.

ADA CALHOUN

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