This Flat Earth

C+

Ever since I saw Milk Like Sugar in 2011, I have found almost every play that Tony-winner Rebecca Taichman has directed in New York, including Stage Kiss, The Oldest Boy, Familiar, Indecent, How To Transcend a Happy Marriage, Time and the Conways, and School Girls to be a worthwhile experience. Furthermore, the two plays by Lindsey Ferrentino that I had seen — Ugly Lies the Bone and Amy (or Andy) and the Orphans — showed great promise. Therefore, I approached this timely play, now in previews at Playwrights Horizons, with high expectations. I was disappointed. From the very first moment, I didn’t buy into it. Julie (Ella Kennedy Davis) is a 12-year-old with symptoms of PTSD after surviving a shooting at her school. Even for someone who can’t afford a cellphone, she seems remarkably naive and uninformed. Would someone her age really believe that she could save her allowance for a trip to Japan to get a boob job or be shocked to learn that there had been other school shootings? Her mother died in childbirth, so she has been raised by her good-natured but feckless father Dan (Lucas Papaelias; Once), a failed comedian forced to take a low-paying job at the water works. Her shy best friend Zander (Ian Saint-Germain) really wants to be her boyfriend. Their upstairs neighbor Cloris (Lynda Gravatt; Skeleton Crew, King Hedley II) is a retired cellist who likes to play LPs of the classical music she can no longer perform. That music is played by an offstage cellist (Christine H. Kim). Lisa (Cassie Beck; The Humans, The Whale), the grieving mother of a murdered girl, is trying to find a way to get on with her life. The fact that Dan has bought his daughter clothes that Lisa has donated to Goodwill illustrates the difference in the economic situation of the two families. To give Julie a chance at a better education, Dan has bent the rules. When Lisa inadvertently discovers his misstep, there is a crisis. Julie must face the reality that adults are not really able to fix everything. She bonds with Cloris, who has a long poetic monologue predicting Julie’s future. The topics of gun violence and income inequality could hardly be more relevant and the idea that music has the power to comfort is appealing. Somehow, it just did not come together for me. The level of acting varies, with Cassie Beck and Lynda Gravatt standing out. Dane Laffrey’s (Rancho Viejo, The Christians) awkward two-level set is deliberately sparsely furnished. Paloma Young’s (Time and the Conways, Lobby Hero) costumes are apt. Rebecca Taichman’s direction hits all the right notes, but the play itself needs a tuning. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.