‘Our Mother’s Brief’ tepid ‘Affair’

‘OUR MOTHER’S BRIEF AFFAIR’: Linda Lavin & John Procaccino. Photo: Joan Marcus

OUR MOTHER’S BRIEF AFFAIR
By Richard Greenberg
Directed by Lynne Meadow
Through March 6, 2016
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6290), http://ourmothersbriefaffairbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Linda Lavin should have a patent on “how to play a Jewish mother” because no one does it better on the stage. Ms. Lavin has portrayed strong mothers in countless roles and she’s certainly at the top of her game in Richard Greenberg’s paper-thin new drama. In fact, Ms. Lavin is so outstanding in both her command of the stage and razor-sharp delivery of lines that we almost overlook Mr. Greenberg’s hollow, uneven narrative.

The premise of the story is simple yet convoluted. Ms. Lavin plays Anna Cantor, a widowed Long Island woman who’s supposedly near death. The problem is, Anna has told her kids that she’s “dying” many times before. Twins Seth (Greg Keller), an obituary writer, and sister Abby (Kate Arrington), a California librarian, have traveled to mom’s bedside in New York.

Anna drops a bombshell: She supposedly had an affair back in the 1970s with Phil (John Proccacino) while Seth was a teenager studying music at Juilliard. The plot thickens when Anna reveals that Phil was actually involved in an infamous national security scandal back in the 1950s –or was he?

Seth and Abby aren’t sure if Anna, suffering from Alzheimer’s, is telling the truth or making the whole thing up. Most of the play’s tension is based on the two children trying to determine why their mother is revealing this now, as she’s supposedly dying. Nearly all the action centers on episodic flashbacks of Anna and Phil’s surreptitious meetings circa 1973, with Seth and Abby popping in to ask their mother questions about her alleged affair. While the dialogue is crisp and snappy at times, with Ms. Lavin firing off Yiddish words and phrases with aplomb and getting many laughs from the audience, everything grows tiresome and repetitious.

Narrative point-of-view and a story’s setting are crucial in any stage play. In a film or novel, flashbacks can work well because there are no constraints on time and place, but using them on the stage is tricky indeed. Mr. Greenberg spends far too much time relying on Anna’s flashbacks to advance the action.

The characters of Seth and Abby aren’t terribly interesting either. Both are twins and gay, but we learn little about them other than how Seth can’t find love and Abby, who has a child, feels her relationship with her partner is becoming routine and dull. Perhaps there would be more of a solid drama here we if knew more about the twins’ back story and what makes them tick.

Lynne Meadow does her best directing the cast, and again Ms. Lavin is exquisite, but no director could “fix” a drama with this many structural issues. Our Mother’s Brief Affair might be more satisfying as a 90-minute one act, but as is, it’s a tough slog to sit through, especially since act two is completely unnecessary. Ultimately, this is one tepid “affair” that’s mostly forgettable.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 22, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on January 21, 2016

‘OUR MOTHER’S BRIEF AFFAIR’: Linda Lavin & John Procaccino. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘OUR MOTHER’S BRIEF AFFAIR’: Greg Keller & Linda Lavin. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘OUR MOTHER’S BRIEF AFFAIR’: Kate Arrington & Greg Keller. Photo: Joan Marcus