For the Love of ... Well ... Whom?

Review Boston Marriage

By Richard Martin

Not long into “Boston Marriage,” David Mamet’s Victorian era comedy about the nonmarriage marriage of Anna and Claire, which opened New Repertory Theatre’s season on Monday night, Anna, interrogating Claire about her sudden interest in a younger woman, asks, “Do you believe in God?” Exasperated and fatigued by the verbal assault, Claire reclines on a nearby chaise and wearily replies, “I would if you’d shut up.”

The argument, which resumes immediately and sets both the play’s tone and its nonstop pace, also defines the stage of the couple’s relationship, which is long past romance, though not without occasional passion.

Of course there are complications.

Anna (Debra Wise) is also mistress to a married man, a protector, who provides her with a tidy monthly stipend and the pretense of being straight in a time when manners and appearance trumped candor, and being a mistress was far more acceptable than being lesbian. He’s in it for love. She’s in it to support the style to which she and Claire (Jennie Israel) have become accustomed. Still, the stunning emerald necklace he’s bestowed on Anna leaves Claire with her own suspicions.

Claire meanwhile has invited the new object of her affection to visit her at Anna’s house that very afternoon. Incredulous, Anna nonetheless quickly bargains to inject herself into the equation to spice things up. All appears to be going as planned, but soon after the young woman arrives, something happens that changes everything for everybody. So much for plans.

The bickering between Anna and Claire is laced with the clever, cutting dialogue that has ushered the terms Mametese and Mametian into the theatrical lexicon, if not the dictionary. Often a hurdle for actors and audiences alike, the challenge in “Boston Marriage” is magnified. The slightly off-sounding cadences and unfinished sentences Mr. Mamet is known for are joined to a Victorian dialogue, filled with expressions that we rarely hear. And the actors seem not to have reached a comfort level with their delivery.

While Ms. Wise displays an easy stage presence, she depends more on volume than tone to convey the sharp edges of her words, blunting them instead and making the rapid-fire dialogue harder to grasp. This also makes it more challenging to appreciate Anna’s midsentence digressions, usually to scold her Scottish maid, Catherine (Melissa Baroni, better at speaking than crying) whom Anna, in a running joke, persists in believing is Irish and is called Bridey. Or Mary. Or Nora.

Ms. Israel, on the other hand, is a bit more deliberate with her lines and sounds more natural and effective, but she seems less comfortable with her gestures and stage movements.

The affairs complicating everyone’s lives are there not just for comic value, but as catalysts that could transform Anna and Claire’s relationship. The other characters are unseen, however, and we understand the entanglements only through the couple’s exchanges, where some of the underlying energy is lost in translation.

Still, there are laughs. With smoother deliveries, there would be more.