By Brian Scott Lipton . . .
One won’t spot an “Audrey II” among the neatly ordered plants inside the store that lends Theresa Rebeck’s involving new play, Dig its name. But even if the work—now being presented by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters through October 22—is not meant to be a thriller, that doesn’t mean a horror or two won’t occur. Indeed, many audience members audibly gasped at a couple of the twists and turns Rebeck (who also directed this production) has in store for them.
Those moments aside, Rebeck has essentially created a tale of reinvention for its two main characters, who encounter each other in the store (superbly designed by Christopher and Justin Swader) for the first time in many years.
As the two-hour drama opens, the shop’s crotchety 54-year-old owner Roger (a perfectly cast Jeffrey Bean) is disgusted by how his oldest friend Lou (a somewhat-unlikeable Triney Sandoval) has neglected a plant he was given. Lou is not alone, though. He’s brought along his 34-year-old adopted daughter Megan (an outstanding Andrea Syglowski), who is now in his care after a recent suicide attempt.
Rest assured, Roger and Megan’s reunion is no rom-com “meet cute.” In fact, Megan is all jangly nerves, four-letter words and unhappy attitude, having nothing kind to say about her father and constantly bickering with Roger (who last saw her as a young child). Making matters worse, she freaks out after a nosy customer named Molly (the very fine Mary Bacon) realizes why Megan’s face looks familiar—from all the TV and newspaper reports about how Megan left her five-year-old son Henry in a heated, locked car, resulting in the boy’s death.
While this is not an auspicious start to any sort of relationship, Megan somehow talks Roger into hiring her at the store (albeit without pay), which becomes even more necessary when Roger fires his only paid employee, Everett (a superb Greg Keller), for being both constantly stoned and generally annoying.
Megan turns out to have a talent for repotting plants (yep, it’s a heavy-handed metaphor), a head for business, and a wounded heart that nonetheless still has room for Roger. A loner—and perhaps even a virgin (though he protests otherwise)—Roger is, above all, a “control freak,” so it’s a real triumph when he allows Megan to make significant changes to his shop.
Ultimately, she becomes a surrogate daughter to him. Roger treats Megan far better than Lou ever has, especially when she’s unexpectedly visited by her slimy ex-husband Adam (an effective David Mason). Still, we’re aware their relationship is as fragile as some of Roger’s plants.
If the potting—I mean plotting—of Dig is at times unsteady, the play once again showcases Rebeck’s remarkable gift for creating complex female characters and putting them at the center of her work (whether it be Broadway’s Bernhardt/Hamlet or TV’s “Smash”). And she couldn’t ask for a better portrayer of Megan than the absolutely riveting Syglowski, whose pain, anguish and frustration we feel at every moment.
In Dig, hope is not the thing with feathers. It’s the thing with leaves and flowers.
Dig. Through October 22 at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues), presented by Primary Stages. Two hours with one intermission. www.59e59.org
Photos: James Leynse and Justin Swader (as indicated)
Cover photo (by Justin Swader): Jeffrey Bean, Andrea Syglowski and Triney Sandoval
