This is an odd column for me, as I reviewed this play by Amy Herzog in 2017 when it first appeared in the smaller venue of the New York Theatre Workshop on East 4th Street where it had welcoming reviews from most of the critics including me, and it enjoyed a decent run. It helped to establish the fine reputation of its author who went on to write several prize winning plays plus an adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House which was nominated for a Tony Award. She now teaches playwriting at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, and so it is no wonder that the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York did offer us another production at its home base on West 47th Street at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
What is odd about this revival is that it in no way resembles its first production–the one we so admired in 2017. It’s odd because it has the same Director and Scenic Designer and two of the original four actresses who recreate their roles in 2017 and now play them here. There is no resemblance in look or sound to the first time around. Yes, Mary Jane is now played by the gifted film actress Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams, but she and all her supporting actors could project their performances to sound and energy levels better suited to the acoustics of a theater with a live audience.
Mary Jane is the mother of a two year old boy who spends the play unseen and silent in a bed offstage because he was born with disease in his lungs, kidneys, and other vital organs, and all his mother can do do is wait in her cramped living room outside his bedroom or in the hospital getting whatever small support she can from professionals and a mother in a similar situation. Her life is this child.
For a look at my review of the production at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2017, click on this link: https://dctheaterarts.org/2017/09/27/review-mary-jane-new-york-theatre-workshop/
I do wish these many first rate artists better luck next time. My advice is: “if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”