The Manhattan Theatre Club debuts "Our Mother's Brief Affair," a new work from playwright Richard Greenberg starring Linda Lavin. NY1’s Roma Torre filed the following review.
America's aging population is ever increasing, but too often, the portrayal of our senior citizens on dramatic stages amounts to stereotype - they either are over-bearing guilt mongers, blessedly wise, or addled with dementia. Richard Greenberg's thoughtful but uneven play "Our Mother's Brief Affair" paints a protagonist who is all that and a whole lot more.
Anna is quite a unique character. The widowed Jewish mother of twins from Long Island has quite a story to tell from her past. And lest you try to pigeonhole her, the good news about this play is that you can't. The other good news is that Linda Lavin is delivering a beautifully nuanced performance that turns what is essentially a lop-sided play into an engrossing character study.
At first we see her through her son's eyes - an obituary writer who seems emotionally half-dead himself. He describes his mother coldly with blunt honesty. Seth, who is gay and his sister Abby, a lesbian are clearly damaged souls but they are underwritten and serve mainly to elucidate their mother.
The affair is a surprise on many levels. And as it unfolds in flashback, revelations abound. One of them involving the identity of the lover - an infamous character from history - threatens to hijack the plot. But Lavin is so strong and the writing so sharply evocative, the story is very much Anna's own.
All four performances are quite strong but it is Lavin's show. In addition, while Greenberg's dialogue is predictably glib and witty, the play's darker tones allow Lavin - known for her comic skills - to flex her dramatic chops here. And she is sublime.
Director Lynne Meadow's subtle and sensitive direction can't quite overcome the play's structural flaws, but ultimately, its message that we are the sum total of our experiences – ours, as well as our parents - truly hits home.