At the start of Dying City, Manhattan war widow Kelly gets an unexpected visit -- during primetime TV viewing from the twin brother of her late husband, who died in Iraq just over a year ago. It's unexpected in several ways. For one, the visitor, Peter, is supposed to be onstage playing Eugene O'Neill stand-in Edmond in Long Day's Journey into Night, but he walked out at intermission. For another, Kelly has been avoiding all contact with Peter since the funeral of her husband, Craig, even skipping the play that opened six months ago. Kelly, on this night, is in the midst on packing up to leave the state.
Set in 2004 and 2005, when personal as well as political discussions of the Iraq war could turn heated, this play by Christopher Shinn is rife with riffs on grief, loss, betrayal and post-traumatic stress disorder a disorder Shinn makes clear isn't limited to those in the military. And there are unexpected takes on the popularity of TV's "Law & Order" and "The Daily Show."
Shinn calls for two actors to the play the three roles. The production at Mosaic Theater in South Florida is made remarkable by the performance of Ricky Waugh as the brothers. Waugh's actor-brother Peter retains an endomorphic softness and a hint of Missouri drawl from under a baseball cap; soldier-brother Craig emerges as square-jawed and muscle-hard in an Hawaiian-style shirt of the type that might have been worn some decades ago by the twins' father while on leave from duty in Vietnam.
"Emerges" is an apt word here: Waugh's transformation takes place offstage in the bedroom Kelly used to share with Craig and in which Peter once crashed. Waugh's portrayals are so convincing that if, during Craig's time on stage in the loft living room, you looked up at the bedroom door expecting Peter to appear, you wouldn't be alone.
Erin Joy Schmidt's transformation of Kelly back and forth in time takes place mostly on stage and mostly with posture. The living room is painted a medium gray, and much of the production seems to take its cue from that, the action muted for perhaps too long. When Kelly finally breaks into tears, the effect is almost risible, but it's doubtful the scene was meant to be played for laughs. That moment, though, is probably less baffling than Shinn's plot point of e-mails sent from Craig to Peter.
Still, Dying City was a Pulitzer finalist in 2008, and Mosaic delivers some affecting moments in a play spiked with interesting ideas.
