Our Mother's Brief Affair *

Noone knows how to pander to a Manhattan Theatre Club audience better than Richard Greenberg. String together some witty one-liners, throw in a Jewish matron, add a few Yiddish words, mention Great Neck at least once and, voila, MTC awaits with open arms. If you can get Linda Lavin to play the matron, all the better. And so we now have this strange lumpy play occupying the stage of the Friedman Theater. Anna (Lavin), on her deathbed for the umpteenth time and not fully of sound mind, confides to her son Seth (Gregg Keller), a gay solitary obit writer, that she had an affair when he was a teenager. Having trouble processing this information on his own, he summons his twin sister Abby (Kate Arrington) back from Southern California, leaving her wife and infant behind. Anna claims that while Seth was taking unwanted viola lessons at Juilliard, she was carrying on with a man (John Procaccino) she met on a park bench in Central Park who said his name was Fred Weintraub. SPOILER ALERT: Read no further if you don’t want to know an important plot point. Fred later reveals that he is actually David Greenglass, the man largely responsible for sending his sister Ether Rosenberg to the electric chair. (I confess that I find it distasteful when a playwright drags in a well-known historical moment, be it 9/11 or the Rosenberg case, to prop up his play.) To remind the audience who Greenglass was, director Lynn Meadow turns up the house lights so Seth can give us a short lecture, thereby destroying whatever mood had been established. David's confession is not a turnoff for Anna who responds with a confession of her own, recalling a shameful incident from her early adulthood. Time passes, Anna worsens, moves to assisted living and the family home is sold. Seth and Abby have their doubts about the truthfulness of Anna’s story. Unfortunately, Anna is so unsympathetic and her adult children so emotionally stunted that it is hard to develop much concern for them. The exposition involves long scenes of Anna and Phil/David reenacting her story while Seth and Abby are reduced to standing around and injecting an occasional sarcastic remark. Keller and Arrington make the best of their underwritten roles. Procaccino is fine and Lavin is Lavin. She looks smashing in her Burberry coat and still has great legs. That seemed enough to satisfy the audience. Santo Loquasto's understated set is a far cry from MTC's typically lavish set designs. Running time: two hours including intermission.

The Qualms ****

With this comedy, now in previews at Playwrights Horizons, Bruce Norris (The Pain and the Itch, Clybourne Park, Domesticated) once again demonstrates that he is one of our most consistently entertaining playwrights. His depiction of a swingers’ party that goes awry is hysterically funny, occasionally touching, and uncomfortably perceptive about the foibles of human sexuality and other social behavior. For reasons that are a bit implausible, investment banker Chris (the always reliable Jeremy Shamos) has accepted an invitation to attend a swingers’ party with his attractive wife Kristy (Sarah Goldberg) at the home of Gary (John Procaccino) and his sexy but slightly dim partner Teri (the superb Kate Arrington), whom they had met on vacation. Gary argues at length about the unnaturalness of monogamy. They are joined by the plus-size Deb (the delightful Donna Lynn Champlin) and her younger black lover Ken (Andy Lucien) who combines an ultra-buff body with  a touch of swish. Last to arrive are Regine (Chinasa Ogbuagu), a sultry beauty from Martinique, and Roger (the fine Noah Emmerich), an ex-military libertarian. There’s also a delivery guy (Julian Leong) who earns laughs without saying a word. Chris quickly develops misgivings about being at the party and provokes the others by expressing unfashionably conservative views. His increasingly obnoxious behavior is a buzz-kill for the evening’s anticipated amorous adventures. Norris skillfully uses both overlapping dialog and the absence of dialog. A long silent scene near the end of the play is powerful in its impact. There's a momentary breach of the fourth wall that is very effective too. Director Pam MacKinnon manages all the action with aplomb. Todd Rosenthal has designed a condo living room that looks authentic and lived in. Jessica Pabst’s costumes are spot-on. Some may dismiss the play as lightweight, but I think there are some thought-provoking ideas lurking behind the humor. Besides, it was so funny that I wasn’t really looking for gravitas. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.

Grace ***

(Please click on the title to see the full review.)
If you want to see four fine actors in a satisfyingly complex play, don't wait too long to get a ticket for this limited run comedy/drama by Craig Wright, now in previews at the Cort Theatre. Steve and Sara (Paul Rudd and Kate Arrington) have recently moved to central Florida to open the first of a projected chain of biblically-themed hotels. Sam (Michael Shannon), their neighbor in the adjacent condo, is recovering from an auto accident that left him disfigured and his fiancée dead. Karl (Ed Asner), the crusty German immigrant who is the exterminator for the condo complex, has a dark episode in his past. Steve can't resist the opportunity to deliver a sales pitch, whether it is for God or for real estate. Stay-at-home housewife Sara is lonely and neglected. The play starts with a bang and, after a freeze frame, flashes back to describe how events reached this point. The ties between the occupants of the two apartments are intensified by Beowulf Boritt's clever, elegantly simple set that uses the same space to represent both condos simultaneously. (I now forgive him for the set that overpowers "If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet.") Dexter Bullard's direction is excellent. At times I thought the play had more style than substance, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes without intermission.