Mary Jane

In the surreal HBO drama, The Leftovers, Carrie Coon portrays a mother whose children suddenly and unexplainably vanish. Now, as the title character in this flawless production of Mary Jane at the New York Theatre Workshop, she plays a mom whose child is vanishing very slowly, and she fully understands each precious minute. In one of the best performances of the new season thus far, Ms. Coon tries to maintain a facade of ease over an almost unbearable inner tension, tirelessly coping with her fate and hoping against hope. Surely she will explode or take vengeance. In a lesser play that would certainly be the case. But within the whip smart construct of Amy Herzog's inspired work, having compassion for others, having a knack for maintaining normalcy, and having a kick-ass employee health plan are enough to keep Mary Jane from going ballistic. Whether or not she is collapsing from within is another matter.

On a macro scale, this is a play about the slow breakdown of imperfect systems. These systems include the nuclear family, the human body, modern technology, medical facilities, higher education, the subway, and religion; but it begins with plumbing. We first meet Mary Jane in her Queens apartment on a morning when the building super, Ruthie (Brenda Wehle), is trying, and failing, to fix a clogged kitchen sink. But soon enough we learn there is a much larger problem in the home. We do not see Mary Jane's son behind the door of the apartment's only bedroom. He comes to us only as a series of beeps from medical monitors and that ghastly sound of a suction machine that tells us that a clogged kitchen drain is laughably unimportant.

Ms. Herzog's cleverest ploy is to begin the play two year's into Mary Jane's ordeal. At this point, she has nearly gotten use to her own tragedy, learning the ropes of living with a severely disabled child while mostly maintaining her outward composure. Nevermind the migraine headaches. As the son's condition worsens from grave to graver to gravest, we witness which support systems work and which do not, and how she must persevere regardless. Sherry (Liza Colón-Zayas) is her hyper vigilant home healthcare nurse, but she is also the only available nurse who is competent or even willing to take on this assignment. Brianne (Susan Pourfar) is a Facebook acquaintance with a sick child who turns to Mary Jane for guidance. Mary Jane becomes the first cog of Brianne's own desperately needed support system.

Director Anne Kauffman also helmed the recent Broadway production of Marvin's Room, making her the foremost authority on dramas involving off-stage dying characters. Here, each scene flows seamlessly into the next with a slow and even pacing that captures the audience. You know you are doing something right when even the smallest of laugh lines results in tension-releasing guffaws. Ms. Kauffman is also not afraid of silences and darkness. One of the play's most beautiful and contemplative moments occurs when Mary Jane, sitting in the dark, turns on one of her child's toys which casts an array of stars and moons upon the living room walls.

The supporting cast, all in dual roles, also shine (as does scenic designer Laura Jellinek, whose set magically pivots from apartment to hospital). Ms. Wehle is hilariously dark as Ruthie in the first scene, then spiritually beatific in the final scene as, of all things, a Buddhist hospital chaplain. Ms. Colón-Zayas matches Ms. Coon's mix of warmth and matter-of-factness as both Sherry and as the doctor who tries to keep Mary Jane's hopes grounded in reality. Ms. Pourfar's Brianne is a replica of how Mary Jane must have been when she began this process, and then later she portrays Mary Jane's near-opposite, a religious Hasidic woman with seven children. Nonetheless, they find much in common during a tender and comedic scene in a "parents room" at the hospital. And Danaya Esperanza brings a skilled awkwardness to both Amelia, who visits Mary Jane's home at an inconvenient time, and as Kat, a music therapist at the hospital who also picks the exactly wrong time to offer her services.

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

"Plays don't usually come with content advisories, but "Mary Jane," by Amy Herzog, should: Parents strongly cautioned. Or maybe not just parents. "Mary Jane,"... is a heartbreaker for anyone human."
Jesse Green for New York Times

"One of the triumphs of this clear-eyed, compassionate and engaging play at New York Theatre Workshop through Oct. 29 is that it upends expectations even if it doesn't ever take drastic turns. Fine writing and feel-real dialogue each have ways of exerting an insistent tug."
Joe Dziemianowicz for New York Daily News

"Amy Herzog's exquisite and deeply moving Mary Jane."
Adam Feldman for Time Out New York

"Confirming its author as one of the most lucid and sensitive American playwriting voices to have emerged in the past decade, this beautiful new work is directed with ultra-naturalistic subtlety by Anne Kauffman and acted by an exemplary five-member, all-female ensemble that takes that same cue, led by Carrie Coon in a performance as wrenching as it is restrained."
David Rooney for Hollywood Reporter

""Mary Jane," a heart-stopping play about women as domestic caretakers, was written by a woman, directed by a woman, largely designed by women, and performed by women. But Amy Herzog's devastating new work, now playing at New York Theater Workshop and featuring an infinitely optimistic single mother struggling to provide 24-hour care for her special-needs child, is must-see theater for anyone with a heart."
Marilyn Stasio for Variety

External links to full reviews from popular press...

New York Times - New York Daily News - Time Out - Hollywood Reporter - Variety