Irish playwright Brian Friel has never been at a loss for words. And neither is Mag (Justine Salata), the 17-year-old who chatters on and on in “Lovers,” now getting its first major production here from TACT/The Actors Company Theatre since its 1968 Lincoln Center premiere.
Composed of two separate one-acts, “Lovers” tells the stories of two couples at very different points in their lives. The first play, “Winners,” deals with teenagers Mag and Joe (Cameron Scoggins), whose impending marriage is no doubt being rushed because she’s two months pregnant.
But before they wed, they must pass their final exams.
Studying outdoors on a beautiful summer day, the studious Joe is intent on pouring over his math textbook. But Mag is restless and distracted, repeatedly trying to engage him in conversation about every topic under the sun, especially their relationship.
“I think sometimes that happiness wasn’t discovered until we discovered it,” she gushes.
That their bliss will be short-lived is made clear by a pair of narrators (James Riordan and Kati Brazda) who periodically recite excerpts from an inquest detailing the tragic fate that is about to befall them.
This insightful portrait of the vagaries of teenage romance is marred by its excessive length. Friel (author also of “Dancing at Lughnasa” and “Translations”) indulges his undeniable gifts for language to a point that taxes patience, leaving the audience in the uncomfortable position of wishing the young lovers would meet their doom a little faster.
Relief arrives in the form of “Losers,” which depict the awkward attempts by middle-aged lovers Andy (Riordan) and Hanna (Brazda) to get it on while Hanna’s infirm, religious mother (Nora Chester) lies listening in a nearby bedroom.
Every time the action heats up, the elderly mother frantically rings her bell, prompting Andy to recite poetry — loudly — in a futile effort to convince her that nothing untoward is going on.
Under Drew Barr’s direction, these fumbling expressions of middle-aged lust are hilarious, especially when Hanna abandons all restraint and climbs atop her lover as if he were a mountain to be scaled.
The expertly comic performances — Chester is a hoot as the mother who disingenuously comments that “a wee bit of discomfort’s good for me” — add to the merriment. All told, “Losers” makes winners of its audience.