Familiar ***

This lively, overstuffed new play by Danai Gurira (Eclipsed) now in previews at Playwrights Horizons runs the gamut from sitcom to high drama in its two plus hours. The action takes place in real time late in the afternoon before the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of the Chinyamwira family’s 34-year-old daughter Tendi (Roslyn Ruff). Tendi and her Caucasian fiancé Chris (Joby Earle) are members of a charismatic Christian church who have vowed premarital abstinence. Tendi’s parents Donald (Harold Surratt), a successful attorney, and Marvelous (Tamara Tunie), a scientist/professor who has assimilated to American ways with a vengeance, left Zimbabwe over 30 years ago and are living the good life in a suburb of Minneapolis. Clint Ramos’s finely detailed two-level set presents a house worthy of a home design magazine, sure to evoke real estate envy in the heart of every New Yorker. Tendi’s younger sister, Nyasha (Ito Aghayere), a singer/songwriter/feng shui consultant based in New York has just returned from a trip to Zimbabwe to get in touch with her roots, but her family doesn't express much interest in her trip. Margaret (Melanie Nichols-King), Marvelous’s depressed younger sister with a drinking problem might well have wandered in from a production of “A Delicate Balance.” A crisis develops when Marvelous’s elder sister Anne (Myra Lucretia Taylor) arrives unexpectedly from Zimbabwe, determined to perform roora, an ancient bridal price ritual, over the strenuous objection of Marvelous. Sibling rivalry is strong in both generations of sisters. When he learns that the roora ceremony requires the groom to have an intermediary, Chris hurriedly recruits his slacker younger brother Brad (Joe Tippett), with hilarious results. During the second act, the mood gradually darkens and the revelation of a shocking family secret changes everything. The play’s many extremely funny moments make the darkward turn all the more unsettling. Director Rebecca Taichman has nimbly steered the actors through the change of tone. The strong ensemble acting succeeds in making the specific seem universal. Susan Hilferty's costumes contribute greatly to the production. The humanity and good humor went a long way toward making me willing to overlook some of the holes in the plot. It’s far from perfect, but well worth seeing. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including intermission.

The Library **

Since I have enjoyed several films by Steven Soderbergh, I was excited to learn he would direct a play this Spring by one of his frequent collaborators, screenwriter Scott Z. Burns. My anticipation dimmed a bit when I found out that the play, now in previews at the Public Theater, was about a mass murder in a high school library. I assumed that this talented duo must have some new insight to share that would justify putting the audience through this ordeal again, even if only on stage. Such is not the case. The work is shallow, muddled and manipulative, exploiting a Columbine-like incident without deepening our understanding. Caitlin Gabriel (a fine Chloe Grace Moretz), severely wounded in the shooting, is named by classmate Ryan Mayes (Daryl Sabara) as the person who caused the death of several students by telling the gunman where they were hiding. Caitlin denies this, but no one believes her --  not her estranged parents Elizabeth (Jennifer Westfeldt) and Nolan (a smarmy Michael O'Keefe), nor her preacher (Ben Livingston), nor the detective (Tamara Tunie), especially after a dicey lie detector test. Abused by the media and reviled by her friends and neighbors, Caitlin tells a reporter that Joy Sheridan, a girl who was murdered after leading the endangered students in prayer, was the one who gave away the hiding place. Her story is distorted by the press and only inflames the situation. Joy's religious mother Dawn (Lili Taylor) finds comfort in prayer -- and a book deal. Caitlin's parents are suffering financially, but their request for a share of the victims' fund is a political hot potato. Getting a slice of the pie depends on their ability to persuade Caitlin to change her story. Meanwhile, she is undergoing repeated operations for her injuries. After all this, we get a deus ex machinae in the form of a cellphone. What was the point? What I will remember most about this play is the lighting design (by David Lander): the back wall is brightly illuminated in a series of brilliant color fields of many hues. The actors are occasionally bathed in dramatic yellow light. When the lighting is the most interesting part of a production, something is drastically wrong with the play. I must grudgingly report that the people around me seemed to be enjoying it. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.