Melissa Rose Berindino

Fortunately, one couldn't imagine a better Anna than Lavin, who's still a stunner at 78...and can stop a show with a mere raise of her eyebrow. Moreover, she can pull off a sitcom-territory line like, 'His arms came around me, strong and soft. He was wearing Aramis.' Late in the play, Greenberg rewards Lavin with a meaty memory-within-a-memory monologue...But such sudden, overwhelming sadness is too much, too late. A Richard Greenberg play at Manhattan Theatre Club is theatrical comfort food; this is his 11th MTC production. Somehow, Our Mother's Brief Affair got overcooked. C