Acts of Love: ...Don't Win a Girl's Heart Anymore

Kathryn Chetkovitch's new play Acts of Love is standard soap opera fare- a boy brings his girlfriend home to meet his parents, and a shocking secret is revealed.  However, Ms. Chetkovitch's supreme character development and Marc Geller's taut direction keep the play interesting and exciting.

That's all I can really reveal about the plot, lest I give away the gradually more and more astonishing (not to say far-fetched) twists. 

Andrew Rein bristles with collegiate angst as Tom, and Abby Royle plays Annie with alternating layers of calculation and feigned innocence.  But the play belongs to the two mature actors- Andrew Dawson is gloriously curmudgeonly as Ed, epecially when his hardened veneer begins to crack, and Diane Tyler is full of repressed longings as Sheila.

The scenic design by Aaron Mastin is a wonderfully detailed Summer cottage (though why there's a conspicuous pair of ice skates is confusing).