Amazing.  If you have the opportunity you must see this play.  As indicated in a previous post I was anxious to see how Simon Stephens would handle this.  Had I not known he had also written The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Punk Rock, I would have thought they were written by three different playwrights.  He does not repeat himself and finds something new and fresh, a different voice, each time.

The very intimate setting (especially for a Broadway house) places the action on a narrow strip on the lip of the stage.  A large seating section upstage (and corresponding blocking of seats in the rear mezzanine) puts everyone close to the action and the Samuel Friedman theater provides great sightlines. A couple of tables, a couple of chairs, a pillow, some hand props and generic wardrobe is it.  The actors are exposed with just themselves and the text.  And what a text.  True to the title it plays with the uncertain reactions on the smallest scale, one to one interaction.

Fortunately we are in the  hands of extraordinary performers, Denis Arndt and Mary-Louise Parker.  They are brilliant in their roles and a joy to watch onstage.   This is what theater should be – a chance to understand the human condition close up and personal.  I really mean it.  Do not miss this show.