Elise Manning
Out of the Blue Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights'
949 Comm. Ave. Allston / (866) 811- 4111
through April 16
The real test of a new play is a full production. As their annual Actors' Equity Showcase production, The Out of the Blue Theatre Co. is currently presenting the New England premiere of "The Maternal Instinct" by BU MA (2005) Monica Bauer at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre. A fine professional cast does their best with this work which still seems to be in development, which should help shape it into a fully realized work. The idea began as a 10 minute script called "Ouch" and has grown into a two act full-length play. Currently not all scenes seem quite fully grown. Consequently, it's hard to decide whether this is a 21st century family drama with comic moments, or a very dark comedy of contemporary manners.
This being Massachusetts, the principle characters are a married lesbian couple. Alisha Jansky plays Sarah, a special ed teacher and wife of Lillian, an ambitious professor of biochemistry at one of our universities, played by Karen Woodward Massey. Sarah wants a baby, Lillian is unalterably opposed. Rena Baskin, as Lillian's sister, Emma, who has two kids of her own, has been conspiring with Sarah to find a donor. Eventually this role falls to Lillian's friend and mentor, Fred, the head of her department, played by Stephen Cooper. Each member of this unlikely menage a trois has an encounter in the Public Garden with an incoherent drunken woman whose vocabulary consisted mostly of the word "Ouch." Played by Elise Manning, this homeless souse, who is also pregnant, provides a catalyst for the final action, or so it seems. Like many current scripts, things are left rather up in the air as the lights fade out for the last time.
Lillian is the most fully developed character, with a more or less complete--and melodramatic-- backstory. Sarah desire for them to share a child seems mostly a case of biological imperative, with less coherent justification. Fred's involvement, which has the most comic potential, but has been directed rather realistically, his deep under currents which could be shown more consistently. Emma is a bit of a stock sister-in-law, with only twist being that her sister's a lesbian and she supporting her spouse. There's room for development in all four, though this cast does very well with the material in its present form. The drunk in the park is the most problematic. Presumably a feature of the original short play, she provides a foil for Fred, Sarah, and Lillian (in that order), in three pivotal scenes. Manning does a superb job of physical acting in the role. But the role seems somehow grafted onto the current script. Perhaps she needs somehow to open the play.
Production values on a set by Loann West are basic but sufficient, including her props and costumes. A full-scale production for this 13 scene play might require a revolve and a small side wagon, but this version survives without them. PJ Strachman's lighting would be better if the BPT had a supply of "top hats" to control spill. IRNE winner Matt O'Hare provides an effective soundscape The ensemble acquits itself well under Melissa J. Wentworth's direction, going as mentioned for realistic rather than comic timing in most cases. However, the viewpoint of the play does veer from almost satirical to realistic emotions with no clear line of action, . Still, the current social quandary it explores, and the deeper question of how family background influences adult relationships, are interestingly developed, worth attention--and further rewrites.