‘The Cottage’ Review: Sex Farce Directed by Jason Alexander Delivers Limp, Familiar Comedy
Naveen Kumar A posh country estate where half a dozen lovers unveil their infidelities is the setting of “The Cottage,” which opened at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater tonight. Set in 1923, this comedy of manners by the playwright Sandy Ruskin is so thoroughly old-fashioned that it may come as a surprise it’s not based — like so many Broadway outings lately are — on existing material. Which is not to say that any part of it feels original. This is a paint-by-numbers sex farce, with parameters that do not extend beyond the obvious: heterosexual marriage is restrictive for all, unreasonable for many, and, oh, so thrilling to transgress. The forbidden-fruit pleasures that “The Cottage” tries to pass off as a feast, in a lavish production directed by Jason Alexander, are familiar, superficial and fleeting.