Infidelity and passive-aggressive chitchat star in Theresa Rebeck’s morality tale about moral relativism

Beware the charming and scruffy Irishman with the gift of gab. That’s the biggest takeaway from Theresa Rebeck’s Poor Behavior, now making its New York debut with Primary Stages at the Duke on 42nd Street. There’s plenty to enjoy in this high-decibel dramedy about the weekend getaway from hell, provided you embrace Rebeck’s contrivance for what it is. The play takes place in the upstate country home of Peter (Jeff Biehl) and Ella (Katie Kreisler). Before we even meet them, Lauren Helpern’s painstakingly detailed set feeds us obvious clues about the nature of our dramatis personae: a crate of Pellegrino, a bag of Fairway coffee, ski equipment in the corner. Out of this blue-ribbon diorama (“yuppies in their natural habitat”) emerges a gaggle of effete Manhattanites drawn in such broad strokes they could have walked out of a New Yorker cartoon. Sound designer Jill BC Du Boff’s classical underscoring of the opening blackout (the third movement of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata) hints at the presto agitato tone of what is to come. Naturally, the play starts in the middle of a full-blown debate about moral relativism, shouted over bulbous goblets of NPR-recommended Hungarian wine. The primary combatants in this debate are lady of the house Ella and houseguest Ian (Brian Avers), a witty and arrogant Irish émigré. Ella believes that you can objectively label things as “beautiful” (Yosemite Valley) and “good” (red wine). Ian thinks those terms are just the product of outmoded morality. Ian’s wife, Maureen (Heidi Armbruster), and Peter look on in horror as the argument descends into name-calling. Once their spouses leave the room, however, Ian and Ella are far tenderer with each other, much to Maureen’s horror. The weekend slowly and painfully unravels from there, as adult niceties cede to violent emotional outbursts.