AN updated spin on “Tobacco Road” as filtered through Sam Shepard, Lucy Thurber’s “Scarcity,” which opened last night, depicts the desperate lives of a rural family in western Massachusetts.
Married couple Martha (Kristen Johnston) and Herb (Michael T. Weiss) are barely making ends meet, what with his spending more time drinking than seeking employment and her stuck working endless hours in a dead-end job.
Their sensitive children, 11-year-old Rachel (Meredith Brandt) and her older brother, Billy (Jesse Eisenberg, from “The Squid and the Whale”), are clearly intelligent, but their futures, unlike those of the “rich kids on the hill,” look dubious.
That is, until Billy’s teacher (Maggie Kiley) takes him under her wing, helping him procure a scholarship to a prestigious prep school. Unfortunately, as was the case with such infamous teachers as Mary Kay Letourneau, she’s not just focused on the boy’s education.
Billy’s parents aren’t entirely opposed to the situation if it will help their boy, but that’s in keeping with their general level of behavior. Herb is fond of making such observations as “You’ve got a nice ass for a kid your age” to his young daughter while Martha fights off the advances of her lecherous married cousin (Todd Weeks) even while subtly encouraging them.
But while the play offers no shortage of luridly fun moments – the performers are clearly having a great time diving into their juicy roles – it never quite settles on what it wants to be.
Shifting awkwardly between Gothic caricature and sensitive character exploration (most notably in its well-drawn depiction of the sexually troubled teacher), it fails on both levels, lacking the necessary outrageousness for the former and the insight for the latter.
Director Jackson Gay is ultimately unable to reconcile the work’s conflicting elements, with the result that the real scarcity here is that of substance.
SCARCITY
**
Atlantic Theater, 336 W. 20th St. (212) 279-4200. Through Oct. 14.