'Safety Not Guaranteed' review — a time-traveling musical rooted in the now

Read our review of Safety Not Guaranteed off Broadway, adapted from the 2012 film, playing at the Harvey Theatre at BAM Strong through October 20 only.

The promise of time travel is evergreen: Fix mistakes in the past, anticipate problems of the future, and get away from your everyday reality. Even though journalist Darius (Nkeki Obi-Melekwe), her editor Jeff (Pomme Koch), and fellow writer Arnau (Rohan Kymal) find a classified advertisement promising a chance to go back in time ridiculous, it's tantalizing enough for them to investigate further.

Most works about time travel jump between eras, but the musical Safety Not Guaranteed, based on the film written by Derek Connolly and directed by Colin Trevorrow, is anchored in the now. When they embark to the town where the ad went up, the show forces the characters to reckon with how their present doesn’t live up to the promises of the past. An old girlfriend has grown up, the dive bar hasn't changed, and the characters similarly can't escape their disappointing lives back home.

Aimed squarely at millennials feeling the blues of climate change, political uncertainty, and social upheaval — and who know the movie — Safety Not Guaranteed aims for nostalgia for the ‘90s and '00s (Jeff names Trapper Keepers and Nickelback in one song, for example). Yet, its indistinct score and book don't quite earn it.

Darius gradually gets closer to Kenneth (Taylor Trensch), the social outcast who placed the ad, first as a mole, then a seemingly willing participant in his plan. She openly questions her own motivations, but we don't learn much about her beyond a sense that she dislikes her job. If she's really seeking an escape to another time, what is she escaping from?

The pop-rock music doesn't fill in the blanks of Nick Blaemire's script: Darius’ songs, and everyone else’s, sound generic and dated (composer/lyricist Ryan Miller also wrote the 2012 film's score). When Kenneth sings about going on a dangerous mission, twanging guitars nod to the sound of espionage shows and movies. But the rest of the show never advances that idea as a way of his viewing the world, instead always keeping him at a slight remove.

Although Trensch is good at playing a social misfit, Safety Not Guaranteed feels generally unmoored, resulting in a grab bag of cliches and tropes that don’t pay off. The show is meant to express discomfort toward modern anxieties and loneliness, but it doesn't emerge as a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Safety Not Guaranteed summary

Darius, a Seattle magazine journalist who appears to be hanging by a thread, spots an anonymous advertisement in the paper inviting a respondent to join them on a time-traveling journey to the past. The cynical staff thinks it’s too good to be true, but worth investigating. The crew travel to the town of Oceanview, where Darius gradually develops a bond with the advertiser, an outsider named Kenneth. Soon, the story they’re reporting on starts to change as each of them confront their own pasts.

What to expect at Safety Not Guaranteed

The musical is spare in its presentation: The main stage of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theatre is outfitted in mint green, with a platform for the band to play on, plus some props brought in throughout. At times, the actors hop atop the platform like it's a second stage to perform in a concert-like fashion, but the reason for its inclusion in the set design – which also incorporates simple cardboard backdrops – is unclear.

What audiences are saying about Safety Not Guaranteed

• “Excellent, talented cast - great singing-two really strong songs — fun staging - based on film - uneven tone - a cartoonish mix of real emotion/outlandish events.” Show-Score user Alison 7003
• “Good time not guaranteed. Not overly interesting. Music was blah.” Show-Score user NewToNYC
• “I was really pulling for this, hoping to like it, but its pedestrian score and unexciting script kept it from being anything other than mildly diverting. It never soared, never found its groove, never found its tone, and just kind of limped to its inevitable end.” - Show-Score user Jeff226

Who should see Safety Not Guaranteed

• Fans of Taylor Trensch, whose best-known theatre credits include Dear Evan Hansen and Hello, Dolly!, will want to see his latest role as a snow hat-wearing time traveler.
• Fans of the original movie Safety Not Guaranteed will enjoy seeing how it’s been translated to the stage.
• Lovers of the rock band Guster will be interested to see the work of one of its bandmates, Ryan Miller, who wrote the music and lyrics.

Learn more about Safety Not Guaranteed

The central ideas of Safety Not Guaranteed are worth exploring – questions of who we are and how we became those people, our relationships to the many lives we could have led, and how the culture shapes who we are. But here, they're conveyed with unspecific music and performances, and little theatricality. Maybe next time.