The House In Town, a play by Richard Greenberg. Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzie E. Newhouse. Though British playwrights have gotten most of the praise in the 2005-2006 New York theater season, it is my own opinion that the two of the best plays of the season were by Americans: David Lindsay-Abaire's searing "Rabbit Hole" and now Richard Greenberg's "The House in Town." Both plays relate an extremely painful journey of an American wife to self-awareness and growth. The journey in "Rabbit Hole" is but an inch, but what an inch! Cynthia Nixon bravely gave, and won the Tony for Broadway's dramatic distaff performance of the year, but if Jessica Hecht's devastating portrayal of the fragile Amy Hammer had been eligible, she might have walked away with the Tony herself.
"The House in Town" is a metaphor for belonging, especially Amy's sense of her physical and spiritual self and and her place in life. In the end, she keeps her house, but at a great price. This is a multi-layered play set in 1929 New York, just on the edge of the abyss of the crash, and it explores everyone's sense of belonging, stripping away long-held facades, especially that of her husband, a Jew who has married into "society." One of the questions asked by the play is if a Jew in 1929 America can have a "House in Town."
Mark Harelik wins the immediate good will of the audience as Amy's solicitous husband. Armand Schultz and Becky Ann Baker are good in supporting roles.
This is the best Richard Greenberg play that I've seen, and is even more skilfully written than the highly praised "Take Me Out". With the exception of one or two cliched phrases (with apologies to Shakespeare, what high society "lady" in 1929 would have crudely opined "it was as cold as a witch's tit"?), it is exceptionally eloquent. "The House In Town" is in a limited run at the intimate Mitzi E. Newhouse at Lincoln Center. It deserves its own "house on Broadway" for a long run.
Passes the Broadway Bridge and Tunnel test with a solid B+