While the coronavirus has put families on lockdown and brought theater to a standstill, many artists are using this time to keep creativity alive, flourishing under these newfound restraints. One thousand monkeys on 1,000 typewriters wrote King Lear in quarantine, after all, or something. Take esteemed actress Kathryn Hahn, for example. She is so committed to pushing the boundaries of theater and performance during this troubling time that she has staged scenes from David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross entirely at home with (and this is groundbreaking) an all-female cast. Consisting entirely of American Girl dolls. Moved around on a little doll set by Hahn; her husband, Ethan Sandler; and their preteen daughter. There’s a tiny “Always Be Closing†sign written in marker. Hahn does prop work with a tiny phone and tiny mug and tiny spoon. Sandler brings the dolls out for curtain call, making the little dog doll bow and everything. The video is part of the weekly “Geffen Stayhouse†series, meant to promote the Geffen Playhouse during coronavirus closures. The video is an instant classic companion piece to doll cinema canon like Team America: World Police and Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. We dare say it’s even better than the Abigail Breslin classic Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. If you’ve ever wanted to see an American Girl doll in a little doll shirt that says “GOOD VIBES†kick over a chair in a little doll office while screaming, “Fuck! Fuck! Fucking Williamson!†firstly, we applaud your taste, and secondly, Hahn’s daughter does a commendable Pacino.
Give Kathryn Hahn a MacArthur Grant for This American Girl Dolls Performance
