American Plan

 

American Plan is Richard Greenberg’s take on Henry James’ novel Washington Square combined with elements from another adaptation of the James novel, The Heiress (movie and play). Someone quoted to me a statement that has been said about Richard Greenberg: “if Henry James could have been a successful playwright he would have been Richard Greenberg”. Both James and Greenberg have a fascination of what lies underneath the surface in people’s lives and that what lies underneath is mysterious and sometimes ugly.

The American Plan is set in the Catskill Mountains during its heyday in the 1960s. An elegant and imperious mother, a German-Jewish refugee, comes every summer with her eccentric and troubled daughter to find peace and quiet. Their peace is disturbed by the arrival of a handsome young man (an amazing entrance from under a pool of water) who becomes the daughter‘s suitor. At first glance the daughter seems like a mild, funny eccentric (think Mary Louise Parker). The daughter, so well played by Kate Arlington, falls for the handsome stranger who in turn is smitten by her singular personality. At this point in the play we think we are seeing a pleasant romantic comedy.

The mother, the remarkable Sandra Shipley who reminds one of a gorgeous but deadly snake, arrives on the scene with her maid, Sharon Hope, in tow. The mother (Eva as in Evil) proceeds to try to poison the young man’s affection for the daughter and sets out to prove he is a gold-digger.

Next on the scene is another young man who at first glance seems to be just another vacationer. It is soon revealed he is the ex-lover of the young man, When the mother discovers their secret she convinces the new intruder to try and get back together with his ex. Eventually they run off leaving the daughter waiting, suitcase in hand, for her fiancé to whisk her away.

The scene shifts to ten years later when the fiancé comes back saying he made a terrible mistake. The daughter, no longer young and fresh, has settled into a reclusive lifestyle worthy of James’ heiress.

What is interesting here are all the twists Greenberg makes to the James story, the setting, time period, homosexuality, and a seemingly evil mother (not a father as in the James novel). In this play we discover that all these characters have secrets. The daughter is on medication having been hospitalized for mental problems, and falls in love every summer only to be rescued by her mother. The two suitors are gay ex-lovers, The mother, as it turns out, isn’t such a monster, but a protective parent with a keen sense of what makes people tick. As an ex- German Jew she knows how bad human nature can be. The final scene is different than the James. The daughter admits she knew about his bisexual nature and would have been willing to share him only now, life has passed them both by and they are left staring into space.

The performances are first rate and director Kim Rubinstein mines the most mystery she can from the events in the play. The set by Wilson Chin is evocative of the Catskills, the lighting by Chris Rynne is suitable romantic, and the costumes are well designed for they hide the fact that Kate Arrington is five months pregnant. Go see this one at The Cassius Carter Theatre until March 30