The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Grace B. Mathias

C+

The idea of a dark comedy about rape written by a gay male playwright did not exactly sound promising. Nevertheless, this ambitious, quirky work by Michael Yates Crowley now at Playwrights Realm turned out to hold greater interest than I expected. Grace (Susannah Perkins; The Wolves), a 15-year-old at Springfield High School, is almost a female version of Evan Hansen, socially awkward, with an overworked single mom, and overwhelmed by the events around her. The aftermath of a drunken night with Jeff (Doug Harris), tight end of the school’s football team (the Romans, of course!), recalls the notorious Steubenville case in which more public concern was expressed for the rapists’ ruined future than for the victim. Crowley introduces us to the local newsman (Chas Carey), the guidance counselor (Eva Kaminsky; The Lyons), the lawyer (Jeff Biehl; Poor Behavior), the teacher (Andy Lucien; The Qualms), Grace’s friend Monica (Jeena Yi), and  Bobby (Alex Breaux; Red Speedo), the Romans’ captain with a homoerotic attachment to Jeff. We also meet other townspeople including Jeff’s father - the town’s fire chief, a few fireman, a few football players, a preacher and a doctor. Grace becomes obsessed with the titular painting by David, so we also meet a few Romans and Sabines including Romulus and his wife Hersilia. Much of the play is structured around a court appearance by Grace, which fuels reenactments of past events. The playwright attempts to comment on our hypocritical hyper-sexualized “rape culture,” but his adults are often such cartoon characters that he subverts the message. For me, the impact was also lessened by the ambiguousness of Grace’s experience. Perhaps the point was that rape exists in many forms. An extended metaphor about a coal fire burning beneath the town and the fire burning in men's hearts that leads to rape is tied to Grace's ambition to be a fireman. Grace’s stylized class report on the David painting concludes the play. Arnulfo Maldonado’s set vividly recreates a high school auditorium/gymnasium. Some of Asta Bennie Hostetter’s costumes are a hoot. Tyne Rafaeli’s direction successfully navigates the play’s complex path. While the play tries to do too much and doesn’t fully integrate its various strands, it is an original. Crowley shows promise and I look forward to his next play. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.

Poor Behavior *

Primary Stages' first play of the season is now in previews at its new home at The Duke on 42nd Street. If you crave 2+ hours of arguing, bickering, shouting and throwing tantrums, punctuated only by chunks of pseudophilosophical blather and a few feeble attempts at humor, this is the play for you. Two childless married couples, probably in their late thirties and wed for about a decade, are gathered at the vacation home of one of the couples for a weekend in the country. The hosts, Peter (Jeff Biehl) and Ella (Katie Kreisler), seem relatively sane and happy, at least compared to the other couple. Ian (Brian Avers) is an abrasive Irishman who may have married the hysterical Maureen (Heidi Armbruster) either for her money or a green card. After a long night of drinking, Maureen makes an accusation of infidelity which leads to serious consequences. There is much talk about the nature of "good." The actors did not dishonor themselves coping with this less than stellar material, although Avers shouted louder than necessary much of the time. Lauren Helpern's set of the kitchen, dining nook and entryway of the house was quite attractive and looked lived in. Jessica Pabst's costumes were apt. I find it hard to judge Evan Cabnet's direction, because Theresa Rebeck's script presents so many problems. Rebeck, whose work includes Mauritius, Seminar, and Our House, has the rare distinction of being the playwright whose latest play I always like less than the previous one. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes including intermission.