Writers collide in Margulies' 'Collected Stories'
9 / 10
Lavin is a joy to watch, investing Ruth with an appealing kind of cranky wisdom that only grows more pronounced as the woman ages ('Collected Stories' covers a span of six years). The actress gives one of those complete, nuanced performances, capturing the woman's intellectual vigor, her wry sense of humor and her increasing physical frailty with astonishing fidelity. And Lavin's sense of timing is superb, whether delivering a joke or acerbically dissecting the work of her protegee.