Gender-twist adds welcome edge to revival of ‘A Walk in the Woods’

In hindsight, America had it easy in the 1980s. None of that hydra-headed terrorist nonsense: The enemy was the good ol’ USSR, and we could engage in civilized negotiations over a decent meal. The revival of Lee Blessing’s 1988 A Walk in the Woods brings us back to that simpler time via a series of conversations between two arms negotiators. Representing the Soviets and the Americans, respectively, are Irina Botvinnick (Kathleen Chalfant) and John Honeyman (Paul Niebanck). Stationed in Geneva, they’re supposed to hash things out on behalf of their countries. Except the play doesn’t take place around a large table but on the outskirts of town, where the two meet for informal conversations — a more accurate title would be “A Series of Chats in a Suburban Forest.”