In 'The Layover', Strangers on a Plane and Missed Connections
Charles IsherwoodAugust 25, 2016: Has anyone ever enjoyed a layover? Either it is nerve-janglingly short or grindingly long. “The Layover,” a disappointing new play by Leslye Headland that opened on Thursday at Second Stage Theater, achieves the novel feat of being both at the same time. Running a little more than 90 minutes, it doesn’t succeed in bringing us deeply into the lives of its principal characters. And yet we don’t exactly leave pining for more of their company. Ms. Headland, whose comedy “Bachelorette” remains among the most scorchingly funny new plays I’ve reviewed, has muffled her comic verve almost completely in this play, although the dialogue occasionally crackles with sharp-elbowed exchanges. Instead she has written a dark drama about infidelity and its unforeseen consequences.
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