Make Believe

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Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, Continuity), one of our most promising young playwrights, is in top form with this bracing new work about a dysfunctional family, now at Second Stage Theater. Wohl bravely entrusts the first half of the play to child actors who play the Conlee family’s four children—Chris (Ryan Foust; Mary Page Marlowe), age 12; Kate (Maren Heary), age 10; Addie (Casey Hilton), age 7; and Carl (Harrison Fox), age 5. When we meet them, they are at play in the enormous playroom that takes up most of the attic of their suburban home. Their usual after-school snacks are missing and their mother is inexplicably absent. As their father is away on business, they find themselves unexpectedly on their own. They have been instructed never to answer the phone, but they learn from a series of voice messages that they avidly listen to through the floorboards that their mother has not shown up for her beauty salon appointment or her book club. As they play house to pass the time, they reveal their understanding of their parents’ toxic marriage. Chris alternates between bully and protector, at one point showing up with two bags of food and a six-pack of beer that he has mysteriously acquired. Kate fantasizes that Princess Grace is her real mother. Addie lavishes attention on her Cabbage Patch doll. Carl contentedly plays the family dog. Eventually we see them all dressed up to leave with their father for an unknown occasion. The action smoothly shifts about 30 years forward when four adults—Kate (Samantha Mathis; 33 Variations, Nomad Motel), Addie (Susannah Flood; Love and Information, Tribes), Carl (Brad Heberlee; A Life, Small Mouth Sounds) and Chris (Kim Fischer; Then She Fell)—are gathered for a funeral. In an extended scene we observe how their adult versions relate to their childhood. We get a clearer understanding of what actually happened before and a few surprises about one of the siblings. We see how each person deals with loss, which, in one case, is extremely moving. I will say no more because I don’t want to spoil the experience. Wohl skillfully knits together the story with humor, suspense and sympathy. There are a few missteps; a close analysis would turn up some holes in the plot, but while you are watching, it is completely absorbing and affecting. The actors, both children and adults, are uniformly strong. The production values are top-notch. The playroom designed by David Zinn (Choir Boy, Torch Song) is inviting and the costumes by Emilio Sosa (On Your Feet!, The Light) are apt. The lighting design by Ben Stanton and sound design by Bray Poor make substantial contributions. Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Parallelogram) negotiates the play’s rapid shifts and moods skillfully. It is by far the most interesting play I have seen this summer. Running time: 85 minutes; no intermission.