Theater Review: 'Bullet for Adolf' -- no stars

Bullet for Adolf
No stars

In a shameless attempt to promote his new play "Bullet for Adolf," Woody Harrelson recently paraded three topless women around Times Square with the play's title written above their chests.

For better or worse, you won't find any nudity within the play itself, which is just plain awful.

Co-written by Harrelson and his pal Frankie Hyman, the play is loosely based on their memories of doing construction jobs in Houston in the summer of 1983.

Since Harrelson and Hyman apparently do not believe in the merits of having a coherent plot, the play offers very little besides curses, racial slurs, a random cliffhanger and montages of 1980s video clips.

Zach (Brandon Coffey), an obvious stand-in for a young Woody Harrelson, comes to town looking for a job and meets Frankie (Chris Myers), a co-worker newly arrived from Harlem.

Almost immediately Frankie moves in with Zach and his overly hysterical, seemingly gay but apparently not gay roommate Clint (David Coomber).

The play contains almost no story line whatsoever. Finally, while having dinner at the home of their German foreman Jurgen (Nick Wyman), a priceless gun once used in an assassination attempt on Hitler disappears, ending the first act with a whodunit.

Coomber has a few cute moments with Shannon Garland, who plays Jurgen's perky 18-year-old daughter, and Wyman broadly plays up his character's German background. And for a final bit of fun, the cast breaks into the "Maniac" dance sequence at curtain call.

Harrelson, in his role as the director, tries to compensate for the play's shortcomings by encouraging the cast to overplay their roles.

Next time, Harrelson and Hyman ought to think long and hard about whether their memories merit being dramatized for the stage. 

If you go: "Bullet for Adolf" plays at New World Stages through Sept. 9. 340 W. 50th St., 212-239-6200, bulletforadolf.com.