At a mountain vacation spot in New York State, a young man with a vague past becomes involved with a younger woman and her domineering and manipulative Jewish mother (a star turn from Diana Quick). This is a story of characters deceiving each other and maybe themselves and of unachievable ideals. Set in the 1960s, parallels are obviously being drawn with American society in general, but the focus of the play is never completely clear; this could be due to there being just too many sub-themes which do not always sit well together, some of them under-developed. The writer’s concerns with the wider resonances also seem to detract from the core human story, leaving the audience feeling detached and emotionally uninvolved. The production is handsomely mounted and always interesting, but, ultimately, it is rather unsatisfying.
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The Beast's Pen 