A True Story of Manslaughter Makes a Mawkish Transfer to the Stage

To criticize a play that tells this story of transformation is to be a grump. But good intentions aren’t enough to make a good play. The suspense leading up to the first meeting between the parents and Jacob is palpable, and in those early moments, it’s clear that there’s a lot of pent-up emotions ready to erupt at the mere choice of a wrong word, much less a whole question or pointed accusation… The resolution here is much too easy and pat. Maybe that’s the way it transpired in real life, but the stage is another world.