Back Stage; 10/27/2000; Backalenick, Irene

Presented by The Jewish Repertory Theatre at the Duke Theatre, 229 W. 42 St., NYC, Oct. 21-Nov. 5.

What, exactly, goes wrong with the "Big Potato"? Everything should be working in its favor. This Arthur Laurents play is having its "world premiere" at the Jewish Repertory Theatre's brand new home, the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street. Everything is bright, shiny, full of promise.

Certainly there are big guns--or, if you will, Big Potatoes--involved here. Playwright Arthur Laurents ("Gypsy," "Time of the Cuckoo," "The Way We Were") brings awesome credentials to the project. Richard Sabellilco is a director with a strong track record. Ran Avni, JRT's artistic director, has played a key role in bringing vibrant Jewish theatre to New York.

Moreover, Laurents' play deals with the ever-poignant subject of the Holocaust. And Laurents is no slouch when it comes to writing edgy, clever dialogue--lines which fly like bullets across the stage.

Despite all of this, one never gets involved with this troubled family. One should. Laurents offers drama aplenty. Nessa and ltzhak, Jews who have escaped the camps, now live in Queens where Nessa's beauty salon supports the family. She, however, is obsessed with the Holocaust, bent on revenge, determined to capture a "Big Potato" Nazi.

But when Nessa does imprison her Nazi, the menace is never there. They are merely playing silly games. Though "Big Potato" claims to be "black comedy," it is neither black nor comic. As Nessa's project peters out, so does the play.

Elzbieta Czyzewska, who plays the lead, is a noted Polish actress with an intriguing accent. But her performance, which may be just right for European audiences, comes across as high-decibel. There is little relief from screaming and gesturing. David Margulies, however, manages a moving performance in a sterile atmosphere, and Joanna Glushak adds a bright note. But Dylan Chalfy and Paul Hecht, as the son and Nazi respectively, get little chance to be more than stick figures.

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