The Anders family of 16 Deerpark Road is just like any other American family.
If maids, au pairs, personal trainers and life coaches are regular household visitors. And if you consider Ron Howard a neighborhood friend after bumping into him several times while you were both shopping at Fresh Fields Market. Your gardener also plants daffodil bulbs at the home of a Rockefeller heir.
Welcome to Greenwich, Conn., one of the nation’s wealthiest towns, and the setting for Bess Wohl’s play “In,” a world-premiere drama at Pioneer Theatre Company.
The Anders’ only son, Jordan — or Jordy to his friends — is a Harvard legacy, meaning preferential treatment is anticipated when he applies to the Ivy League university. But he still needs an acceptable SAT score and personal essay. Jordy’s mother Pammie has hired Sara, yet another private tutor.
The dialogue Wohl writes for her “In” characters crackles with wit and real-life authenticity, and the audience is intrigued. When Sara explains the title of a book she’s writing is “Small World,” the flighty Pammie responds, “I like it. Sounds very Magic Kingdom.” In her anger, Sara reveals a belief that “the stupid kids of rich parents should fail just like everyone else’s stupid kids.”
But it appears that when Wohl adapted what was once a screenplay into the three-character study here, all of the dramatic meat was scrapped so the characters are bone dry. It makes their final choices feel both improbable and irrational.
Jordy has been raised by nannies, but Pammie is now single-mindedly concerned with his education? Sara leaves her single copy of the novel-in-progress with Pammie? Jordy has friends with benefits his own age, yet takes a romantic interest in the bookish Sara? The play concludes with the audience averse to accept the spiteful deception and retribution.
Director Charles Morey enlivens the play with fluid pacing and stages the action so the three actors fill the stage. But had he been able to draw more nuanced performances from his Equity actors, this production of “In” could have overcome the play’s weaknesses to become a more promising first staging.
As Jordy, Jason Ralph gives the strongest performance as the unconcerned student. It’s a character he knows well, and the talented actor is able to bring confusion and confidence to the role, and the unlikely mixture rings true. Ralph even appears to share our astonishment with Jordy’s decision near the end of Act 2. There are interesting quirks to Alexandra Neil’s Pammie, and Neil doggedly brings to life the one-dimensional character. (It would help if Pammie struggled to be invited to the “in” dinner parties or to become a member in the right country club.)
On stage we see textured panels that, when lit, are test answer sheets that loom over a room of the family home — but the couch would only be seen in a Greenwich maid’s quarters. Two small set pieces quickly glide from underneath panels for scenes in other locations. The casual wardrobes identify Jordy and Sara but the clothes in Pammie’s closet lack Town & Country sophistication (not even one Lilly Pulitzer scarf?)
Wohl dazzled in last year’s original "Touch(ed)," but with “In” we’re disappointed in what is missing.
Sensitivity rating: Strong language and a mild sexual situation.
Blair Howell has edited New York City-published national magazines and is now a freelance editor and writer.