A bogey for 'Radio Golf'

It's easy to see how "Radio Golf," August Wilson's final play, closing this weekend at Seattle Rep, got such great reviews.

It's politically correct material, written by an acclaimed, Pulitzer-winning playwright ... who happens to be from Seattle ... and is one of America's preeminent African American writers ... and died just months before the play opened. Can't miss!

But I don't think the critics did their readers any favors with the generous notices that ran last month. Michelle and I saw "Radio Golf" last night and, although we went in with great expectations and good will, both left Bagley Wright disappointed. I'm not a theater critic, but I found the performances weak, the line readings rushed and unconvincing and the staging unimaginative.

The biggest surprise, though, was the script, which felt unfinished. And it probably was. News accounts said Wilson completed the play shortly before he died in October, and while I watched and listened I couldn't shake the feeling that he was rushing to finish before time ran out. With time to rewrite and then to revise during early stagings, as he frequently had done, maybe Wilson would have lost some of the cliches, sharpened the characters, tightened the speeches.

Without that polish, the final piece of his 10-play, 20th-century cycle feels unequal to the praise it received, let alone the earlier installments (of which I only saw one, "Fences").

It's a shame, I think, that Seattle's critics couldn't bring themselves to say that. Either they're overly polite or blinded by respect or love or grief.

Seattle Weekly's Lynn Jacobson appeared headed toward that regretful but honest take in the opening paragraphs of her Feb. 1 review, but then took a sharp turn and praised the play as "a quiet pleasure." The P-I's Joe Adcock was the most fawning. Even The Stranger loved it.

In the end, the town's most sober and evenhanded review was probably Misha Berson's Jan. 27 take in the Times. While she was extremely positive, Misha also was willing to characterize the play as "raw" and "unfinished," and noted that it "frays at the finale."

It will be interesting to see how "Radio Golf" travels. I wonder how the New York critics, some miles and months removed from Wilson's death, will score this round.