The American Plan

Synopsis

A tangle of ravaged dreams, broken souls, twisted motives and deceit, The American Plan takes place against the backdrop of the Catskill Mountains during a 1960s summer. Lili Adler, the beautiful, fragile daughter of a wealthy German-Jewish refugee, meets Nick Lockridge, a handsome young stranger, and finds herself falling in love. But when her overbearing mother learns of their relationship, she proceeds to poison the young man's affection and Lili's one chance to escape her mother's control looks like being lost forever.

Our Review:

Gill Kirk - 14 March 2013

Richard Greenberg’s play is set in 1950s upstate-New York, and takes a Chekovian look on the wealthy classes’ angst-filled leisure time. Think “summer of change/discovery/crisis” and you’re most-way there. An over-indulged, fatherless girl meets a society hunk and assumes he’s simpler than her oh-so-complex self. While she and her mother think they’re manipulating him to play a permanent role in their joyless futures, there’s inevitably more to it.

David Grindley directs a supple production that never flags, with a hugely able and confident ensemble cast. Diana Quick’s Eva grows painfully more human, while Dona Croll’s superb maid-cum-companion Olivia leaves you wondering for hours after. Emily Taafe as damaged flibbertigibbet Lili brings more depth than the script seems to promise, although ultimately, Lili - like the others - can never be likeable.

Likewise, Luke Allen-Gale’s near-flawless ...

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