Marin Ireland's new play “Pre-Existing Condition” does not come with a trigger warning. Little marketing explanation is also provided. The show's website says the piece is about the aftermath of a “life-changing toxic relationship,” but doesn't explicitly mention domestic violence.
So let me tell you right up front that physical abuse is the catalyst for this play. And the Connelly Theater upstairs in the East Village is a small space, so if the show gets too tough, it will be difficult for audiences to leave unnoticed.
Does it seem overly delicate to have it in the foreground? For a less powerful playwriting debut, this may not be necessary in a less shattering production. But seeing this play, with Maria Dizia's quiet, unadorned staging and a superb four-member cast starring the momentarily emotionally translucent Tatyana Maslany, is like watching the author open his ribcage and show us everything.
The main character, referred to as A in the script, is struggling to get himself back after breaking up with the man who hit him. Trauma has been consuming her against her will for longer than she thought.
Person A said to the therapist, “I feel like a villain.” “I am becoming this obsessive and vengeful person. “He said he was sorry, but now I’m the problem.”
“His voice is still in your head,” the therapist (Dael Orlandersmith) points out.
An impressive rotation of actresses will reside in the A, including Maslany, Dizzia, Deirdre O'Connell, Tavi Gevinson and Julia Chan. It's a clever way to signal universality while adding box office success in uncertain times for theaters. (More on that below.) Let's be honest, an equally powerful bait is the gossip factor. Ireland experienced domestic violence during her relationship with actor Scott Shepherd 12 years ago. They appeared on the show alongside the venerable Worcester group. .
But what makes “pre-existing conditions” so powerful has nothing to do with it. It's A's Everywoman nature, combined with a vulnerable physicality that is so evident in such an intimate space. Her breath, her pouring tears, the soothing smile she wears like calming armor when she's in danger of upsetting a man.
Maslany, who only plays the role until Thursday, plays with script in hand (chosen by the director), but wears her character as easily as A wears a buttoned-up boyfriend shirt that wraps around her for most of the play. (The costumes are by Enver Chakartash.) Maslany's A is twisted, raw, and inwardly blurred, as if her core is out of focus.
She doubts, blames, and fears herself like never before.
“Now I don’t want the big challenge in my life to be ‘solving this problem,’” says A. Surely there are people in her life who want her to get over this.
As a self-righteous and ostensibly friend (Sarah Steele) asks: “Do you want revenge? What makes you happy here? “You wouldn’t want to ruin his life or anything, would you?”
Then an exasperated real-life friend (Greg Keller) on A's behalf tells her, “We're too smart and too liberal for anyone in this town, in this community, to get away with this.”
In “this community,” you’ll hear implicit references to the world of downtown theater. A perhaps less oblique scene is when A, fearful of having his voicemail messages heard, asks another friend (also Keller) to listen in on him and say the messages “with them so they know what they said and how they said it.” This is the scene. An echo of Wooster Group technology for playing with in-ear audio.
But “pre-existing conditions” doesn’t feel like plural. It feels like a woman is traumatized by an uncommon experience that blindsided her and wants to let others know.
Across town in Chelsea, at Atlantic Stage 2, another experiment in rotating cast and universality continues as Tony Shalhoub and Shohreh Aghdashloo take on the remainder of Shayan Lotfi's “What Became of Us” across the decades (through June 29). It's possible. A story of two siblings from an immigrant family.
Shalhoub's presence was bound to make Jennifer Chang's production a hot ticket, and it is. When he and Aghdashloo also reviewed first-time cast members BD Wong and Rosalind Chao, they made the performance a triumph in itself, bringing the depth of emotion and power of connection that had been missing from this two-hander.
Warm, lively and funny, Shalhoub and Aghdashloo are excellent theatrical storytellers, making moving use of their characters' lifelong memories. A warning to those who were left apathetic by my last monologue. Now it's as heartbreaking as it was intended to be.
pre-existing condition
At Manhattan’s Connelly Theater through Aug. 3; connellytheater.org. Running time: 1 hour and 15 minutes.