‘Pre-Existing Condition’ May Have Worked Best If the Playwright, Marin Ireland, Had Taken a Turn as the Protagonist

Watching Marin Ireland’s new play, “Pre-Existing Condition,” I couldn’t help but think of those Feeding America ads that have popped up everywhere in recent years, flashing AI-generated faces representing everyday folks to remind us that, according to its statistics, one in eight people suffer from hunger. The protagonist of “Condition,” referred to simply as A, is not starving, at least not for food, but she’s having trouble finding empathy and support in the aftermath of a different ordeal.“I guess I’m realizing something kind of horrible about myself,” A tells a friend early in the one-act play, “which is that I always thought that like women who got hit by their boyfriends were like … they were like trash. … And there are days when I feel like maybe I always was trash and this experience just made me see that finally.”While we don’t learn many specifics about her abusive relationship, which proves both a blessing and a curse, A defies some common and unfortunate assumptions about battered women. Played at a recent performance by Tatiana Maslany — one of several accomplished actresses who will rotate in the role, among them Maria Dizzia, the production’s director — she is articulate and at least superficially self-possessed; poverty and other socio-economic factors don’t seem to figure in heavily here.It is implied, later on, that A has been estranged from her father, but Ms. Ireland, who is best known and highly regarded as a stage and screen actress in her own right, takes care not to dwell on this — or to portray her heroine as a masochist, or a woman without agency. “The problem is that I loved him. Love him,” A admits of her ex-. “That didn’t change.”Dael Orlandersmith in ‘Pre-Existing Condition.’ Emilio MadridA variety of other characters, deftly juggled by three performers — Sarah Steele, Dael Orlandersmith, and, at the preview I attended, understudy Gregory Connors, filling in for Greg Keller — are by turns sympathetic, frustrated, and incredulous. A social worker tells A she should have contacted the police earlier, and suggests that visiting a shelter might “help give you some perspective. I mean, you don’t have any broken bones or anything.”One of A’s friends defends the abuser, noting, “He’s going through a lot too … it’s not like he’s an evil person.” Another friend remarks, “We’re too smart and too liberal for someone to just get away with this, in this town, in this community.”While Ms. Ireland has proven herself capable of great nuance as an actress — I would have loved to see her play A, in fact — her writing here can seem ham-fisted, or too neatly tailored to confront stereotypes or stoke outrage. It doesn’t help that we learn fairly little about the man who attacked A, or their relationship; A seems to regret having remained with him as long as she did, but there’s no indication of what physical or emotional violence might have preceded the assault.Another curious aspect of the production is that the actress playing A — Ms. Maslany will be followed respectively by Julia Chan, Ms. Dizzia, Deirdre O’Connell, and Tavi Gevinson — is called on to carry what looks like a script, or perhaps a case file, and to refer to it periodically, reading lines at points. Is this, I wondered, supposed to represent her clinging to her troubled past, or having difficulty speaking directly to certain characters? Or just turning the page, so to speak?Then again, given how obvious “Pre-Existing Condition” can be in other respects, I was to some extent grateful for this one note of mystery.

‘Pre-Existing Condition’ May Have Worked Best If the Playwright, Marin Ireland, Had Taken a Turn as the Protagonist

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