APPIAN UNAPPETIZING

Richard Greenberg scored a Tony Award and a Pulitzer nomination for his 2003 play Take Me Out. His latest work to hit Broadway, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, won't get him any such awards. I realize that the show is still in previews, but what I saw last night has no potential for significant improvement.

The characters vary from the mildly eccentric to just plain nuts--and some of them wander back and forth across that range through the course of the show. I can't believe either of the sons could grow to adulthood and still act so immaturely. Also, while I'm not an expert in the area, I believe the whole plot is based on a total misreading of family law.

There are some good lines here and there. The play is not really boring--just don't try to make any sense out of it.

This marks the return of Jill Clayburgh to Broadway, after a 20 year stint at child-rearing. Her portrayal of the cookbook author mother was the most believable--though it was too reminiscent of Martha Stewart for my taste. I look forward to her seeing her in her next role, as the mother in a revival of Barefoot in the Park.

The rest of the cast did well, considering what they had to work with. But no matter how good the actors are, when the characters they play are unbelievable then their efforts will be futile. Give this one a miss.