All Together, All Isolated, at the Beach
Charles IsherwoodOctober 29, 2014: The summer ocean swells ominously, and even the beckoning swimming pool proves uninviting in Terrence McNally’s 1991 play Lips Together, Teeth Apart. Intimations of mortality seem immanent: The mere zapping of a mosquito strikes an unsettling note in this tender, subtly drawn comedy-drama, set during the height of the AIDS crisis, about two couples visiting the Fire Island home of a relative who has recently died. Unfortunately, the middling revival that opened on Wednesday night at the Second Stage Theater doesn’t fully excavate the rich seams of feeling in this, one of Mr. McNally’s finest plays — and one that hasn’t dated, despite its apparently topical subject matter. (It’s infinitely better than his cough-and-you’ve-missed-a-dropped-name comedy It’s Only a Play, Broadway’s toughest ticket.) While the cast features four talented young actors, including America Ferrera (of Ugly Betty) and the versatile Tracee Chimo (Bad Jews), their performances, under the direction of Peter DuBois, tend to Jet Ski along the crests of the writing.
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