newjerseynewsroom.com

Zeljko Ivanek plays a loner whose niece visits in the shadows of the jungle

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Lincoln Center Theater’s worthy developmental play program, LCT3, which offers top-notch premieres of new works by younger artists for a $20 ticket price – a can’t-be-beat bargain -- inaugurates its handsome new space atop the Beaumont Theater with “Slowgirl.”

A steadily absorbing 90-minute play by Greg Pierce, “Slowgirl” is a two-character drama set amid the jungles of Costa Rica, where Sterling, a reclusive middle-aged American, comfortably resides in a rustic bungalow.

Sterling is visited on short notice by his 17-year-old niece, Becky, unfortunately involved in an ugly accident at a party where a fellow student –the so-called “Slowgirl” of the title – was badly hurt and remains in a coma.

Pending a possibly criminal hearing, Becky was dispatched by her mother to cool off for a week or so with the absentee uncle she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.

Although chattering, anxious and terribly teenaged Becky soon gets on the laconic Sterling’s tender nerves, eventually they bond while learning each others’ stories: The financial scandal that sent Sterling into self-exile and Becky’s painful details about her disastrous party.

Uncle and niece walk into a labyrinth of guilt and shame and come out of it better for their emotional journey.

The playwright traces their gentle transformation through low-keyed conversation that reflects the characters’ contrasting levels of maturity as well as their personal quirks.

The play may be modest in scope, but it sensitively provides a tender double portrait of distinctive characters while inexorably drawing viewers into caring about their troubles.

From the capable looks of this finely-tuned work, Pierce is an intelligent playwright with a confident command of his craft. One suspects that “Slowgirl” will be seen among many regional stages in future seasons; the title may be awkward, but the relatively quiet story is winningly told and pays off emotionally.

Of course, the handsome, very well-acted production that is keenly directed by Anne Kauffman gives the play every possible advantage.