Jules Becker, the New England Entertainment Digest
THE MATERNAL INSTINCT: (Boston Playwrights' Theatre).The
nature/nurture debate about sexuality and sexual preference
continues unabated. Now Monica Bauer has brought that debate
to the domain of motherhood. In her intriguing if too ambitious
play The Maternal Instinct, gifted Boston scientist Lillian deeply
loves her spouse Sarah but does not share the latters powerful
inner need to have a child. Will she change her mind to satisfy
Sarah? What makes the question even more intriguing is the
fact that Lillian is actually doing research and experiments
about the maternal instinct in her M.I.T. lab along with her good
friend and fellow scientist Fred.
The contrast of scientific probing and biological need ought to
make for a powerful conflict. Unfortunately, the play's details
about the M.I.T. lab work do not give the audience enough to
make the tensions between Lillian and Sarah truly rich. In fact,
a subplot contrast of pregnancies - that of Sarah and a
vulnerable woman named Terry whom they befriend - affords
Lillian a change of heart that seems a bit abrupt.
As in many plays where some of the issues need more depth or
detail, a strong cast - under Melissa J. Wentworth's crisp
direction - covers some of the problems with the conviction of
its performances. Karen Woodward Massey is totally focused as
science and Sarah-centered Lillian. Alisha Jansky has all of
Sarah's warmth and feeling. Stephen Cooper catches Fred's
loyalty to Lillian as well as his attraction to Sarah. Rena Baskin
does what she can with the under-written role of Lillian's sister
Sarah, as does Elise Manning with the mysterious loner Terry.
At one point, Fred points out a mistake in Lillian's scientific
theorizing. Likewise, Bauer's writing possesses great heart and
promise. Still, The Maternal Instinct needs more nurturing to
become a fully realized drama.
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