Lots of plays about contemporary society these days are so vicious, churning up so much evidence of neuroses and family dysfunction, it seems they want to hold up a mirror only to the blackest side of nature. Karen Zacarias’s “The Book Club Play,” at Arena Stage, is not such a play. It’s a loose-limbed but perceptive comedy that uncovers flaws, indiscretions and failings, but nowhere — even when its main character is flipping out — does it lose its sense of buoyant humor. It shows the shallowness and lack of self-awareness of some of today’s thirty-somethings, but also indicates those same people looking for their better, or at least truer, selves. It’s a delicate balance, but Zacarias pulls it off.
“The Book Club Play,” takes place in the upper-middle class home of Ana (Kate Eastwood Norris), who writes a column for the Style section of her local newspaper. In Ana’s home, everything is perfect: there are touches of good taste everywhere. Further proof of Ana’s refined taste is that she hosts a book club in her home, where four of her friends visit to discuss fine books, drink fine wine and eat fine food.
| Onstage |
| ‘The Book Club Play’ |
| Where: Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW |
| When: Through November 7 |
| Info: $45 to $85; 202-488-3300; arenastage.org |
Those friends include: Ana’s husband, vice-president of a pharmaceutical company, Rob (Eric Messner); Jen, an overworked paralegal (Ashlie Atkinson); an editor at Ana’s paper named Lily (Rachael Holmes); and an expert on Greek antiquities, Will (Tom Story). Of these four, only Rob really hates to read and is there primarily because the club is in his living room.
All goes well as long as nothing disturbs Ana’s plans, but when an outsider crashes the book club, bringing much needed energy and a fresh viewpoint, Ana goes into a tailspin and the club is nearly torn apart. When the outsider, Alex (Fred Arsenault), is allowed to stay, he turns the book club into something better than it was before.
Zacarias adds an intriguing dimension to “Book Club Play” by having the meetings of the club monitored by a video camera, since the book club sessions are being made into a documentary by someone named Lars Knudsen. The observational device suggests the current fascination with all things reality.
Molly Smith directs with a skilled hand, emphasizing all Zacarias’s comedic details and setting a fast pace for her extremely talented cast.
In its clever take on contemporary mores and on modern characters who take themselves too seriously from time to time, “The Book Club Play” is most refreshing in the fact that it’s not really about books. It’s about people who have a hunger to communicate, whether by sharing books or not.
