Playwright: Annie Baker. At: Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway. Phone: 773-549-1815; $30-$35. Runs through: June 27
Our locale is a small Vermont college town, inside the home of lesbian spouses Phyllis, a professor of psychology, and Joyce, a teacher at the local high school, along with Joyce's 23-year-old son, Jared, who may—or may not—suffer from Asperger's Syndrome ( after autism, the with-it writer's trendiest justification for endowing a character with conveniently solipsistic candor ) . But the introduction to the household of a guest lecturer during the university's week-long "Body Awareness" seminar promptly exposes Phyllis as a dogma-spouting bully, Jared as an infantilized brat, and Joyce as their put-upon enabler. The outsider, you see, is a male photographer whose preferred subject is nude women of all ages and descriptions ( amputees, even ) , his models contracted on a purely volunteer basis and the artist accepting no fees for his labor.
It's not difficult to see in these extreme personalities the perfect set-up for a situation comedy: the bossy matriarch, the sweet-tempered peacemaker, the social misfit who blurts out rude remarks with impunity, the messianic visitor who points the way to happiness. But cheap chortles are not author Annie Baker's goal ( though she takes several swipes at "politically sensitive" academic fashions ) . Despite the potentially erotic nature of her unassuming shaman's aesthetic, his healing magic does not include sex, but instead manifests itself in a non-judgmental permissiveness that proves seductive—indeed, downright irresistible—to victims of doctrinaire ideologies. Gradually, Phyllis learns to laugh at human imperfection, Jared learns how to be an adult, and Joyce learns to trust her own instincts. More important, they learn tolerance and compassion, both for themselves and for each other.
Playwright Baker wraps up her parable tidily—some might say too tidily—in a briskly efficient 75 minutes. But director Benjamin Thiem deftly skirts any knee-jerk risibility by keeping the pace unhurried to allow his cast of Profiles ensemble regulars—Cheryl Graeff and Barb Stasiw as the cuddly cohabitant couple, Eric Burgher lending depth to what could have emerged as a hackneyed stereotype, with Joe Jahraus contributing his familiar bemused-observer turn—the time and scope necessary to invest their personae with spiritual malaise of a gravity sufficient to assure our empathy. The results make for a warm, but never cloying, lesson in filial dynamics, conducted in another of this storefront company's cozy ( and surprisingly functional ) kitchens, courtesy of scenic designer Thad Hallstein.
