A House In Town

When will Richard Greenberg write a play that actually captivates me? I'm starting to think the answer to that question is never! This season of Greenberg started with Naked Girl on the Appian Way and the uber-disappointing Three Days of Rain (with Julia Roberts). This last play of his busy season, A House in Town recently opened at Lincoln Center. I haven't ever seen Take Me Out performed, but I have a feeling this is the only one of his plays that I would like the least bit.

For a play that's only 90 minutes long, I expect to stay wide awake and engaged the entire time - I mean really, 90 minutes is a pretty small period of time. Well, let's just say for this one, it was really tough, and I do mean excruciatingly tough to keep my eyes open - and I wasn't the only one, everyone around me was doing the same thing. I think the problem is that Greenberg writes his plays focusing so much on his dialogue, and very little on action. Sometimes this works, in my experience with his plays, it usually doesn't.

Alright, onto the plot. The play is set in the 1920s in Chelsea - on "millionaire's row." The main characters are a couple - Amy (Jessica Hecht) and Sam (Mark Harelik) and their two friends + a young man named Christopher, who lives in the neighborhood. Well, we learn that things aren't as great as they may seem in the roaring 20s. Amy and Sam have been trying unsuccessfully to have a child, having given up a few years ago. Amy thinks that she may be pregnant, goes to the doctor (her good friend) and is told she has nothing to worry about. It turns out that she has only a few months to live, but everyone has been keeping this from her. In the last few days of her life, she and Sam have a huge argument, and she makes him confess that he once had a mistress and their young neighbor, Christopher, is his son. Hmm...tough break on Amy's part. Well, she throws him out, and lights down we see the play come to a close. So you might have read this and said, "OK, interesting plot, I can see myself liking this show." Well, think again. In the 90 minutes in which the show develops, most of the plot points come out in the last 10 minutes - so the majority is slow and dragging. I've heard a lot of people say how much they like Jessica Hecht as an actress - I, for one, think she always looks weak - as if a light breeze could come across the stage and just blow her over, but that's just me.

Well - let's see what develops next from Mr. Greenberg...I agree with Isherwood of the NYT that he may be one of the most over-hyped playwrights of the moment.