Fraught reunions, marital discord, Russia, a supernatu ral allusion or two: Heidi Schreck’s new show, “There Are No More Big Secrets,” is built from promising blocks.
It all starts when Gabe (Adam Rothenberg) drops by his old friends, Maxine (Christina Kirk) and her husband, Charles (Gibson Frazier), in their rural Pennsylvania home. He has spent years in Moscow, and his presence resurrects long-buried feelings and brings newer dissatisfactions to the surface.
To this basic canvas, Schreck — who’s also a fine actress (“Circle Mirror Transformation”) — grafts a couple of twists. Gabe runs a mysterious “import-export” business; in the second act, he sports a bandaged hand and an outfit that’s very Brighton Beach tough.
More interestingly, Gabe
has come with his Russian journalist wife, Nina (Dagmara Dominczyk), who believes in the paranormal. This last element gives the show desperately needed spice, but it also feels tacked on — just like the arrival of the visitors’ precocious teenage daughter, Lana (Nadia Alexander).
To her credit, Schreck avoids flashy showdowns and unearned catharsis. We do need to hang onto something, though, and the play, directed by Kip Fagan, just fizzles out.
Luckily, the quirky, unpredictable Kirk (“Clybourne Park”) gives a complex performance that’s as sharp as the writing is elusive. The actress dances on the thin line between comedy and drama like a ballerina. Blond, tall and slightly gawky, she can make an innocuous line sound funny, but also brilliantly pulls out threads of unspoken melancholy.
Kirk gives a sense of purpose to a play that otherwise lacks it. We can only hope she won’t remain off-Broadway’s big secret much longer.