‘The Verge’ Is a Hothouse of Desire

If you’re a horticulture enthusiast, there’s a new show downtown that might be of interest from a visual perspective. “The Verge,” a rarely produced 1921 play by Pulitzer Prize winner Susan Glaspell, unfolds in a greenhouse, and for a new staging at the Public Theater, scenic designer Lawrence E. Moten III has crafted a striking facsimile, with a variety of plants surrounded by glass walls and panels, some of them embellished with floral decorations.Unfortunately, the set is by far the most compelling and least off-putting feature of this oddly chosen revival. That may seem surprising, given that the leading lady is Miriam Silverman, a Tony Award-winning actress who has delivered winning performances off-Broadway as well. Here Ms. Silverman is cast as Claire Archer, a botanist who seems to feel greater responsibility and affection for her plants than she does for her husband, Harry, or her teenage daughter, Elizabeth. In Glaspell’s time, when women were generally expected to be preoccupied with marriage and motherhood, “Verge” may have been viewed as a burst of feminist defiance. More than a century after its premiere, Claire’s behavior which includes carrying on with other men whom she treats as callously as Harry, and referring to Elizabeth at one point as “that object” — seems less rebellious or free-spirited than merely selfish and cruel, or perhaps unhinged; it can be hard to tell.Jessie Austrian, co-artistic director of Fiasco Theater, which is producing the revival, does not, to her credit, take pains to promote the play’s contemporary relevance. This “Verge” is presented in its look and tone as a period piece, from the handsome costumes provided by Sarita P. Fellows to the actors’ adroit management of the sometimes fusty or stilted dialogue.Claire emerges as the most three-dimensional character, though that’s not to say she’ll remind you of any human being in your family or social circle; I certainly hope she won’t. “I’m not mad. I’m—too sane,” she insists, shortly before declaring that she can’t believe Elizabeth, who is standing nearby, “ever moved my belly and sucked my breast!” (Paging Lady Macbeth, though at least Claire doesn’t contemplate murder—Elizabeth’s, anyway.)Later, when Tom, one of various suitors she strings along throughout the play, says that her psychological torture—my description, not his—is making him suffer, she responds, “I know I am. I want to. Why shouldn’t you suffer?…You know what I think about you? You’re afraid of suffering, and so you stop this side—in what you persuade yourself is suffering.”There’s an element of comedy, to be fair, in Claire’s restless, ruthless yearning for autonomy and all the havoc it wreaks. She speaks of creation and “reminiscence,” but we’re never quite clear of what she wants to accomplish, because she doesn’t appear to be; she just knows she’s special. Had she lived in our era, she might have become an influencer.It would be a tall order for any actress to suggest that Claire’s emotional abuse wouldn’t send its recipients running in the opposite direction, but Ms. Silverman manages to imbue her with enough wit and dark vivacity that her strange hold on the others doesn’t entirely defy credibility. Noah Brody is also convincing as the oafish Harry, who says things like, “Claire’s a first water good sport—really, so don’t encourage her to be queer.”The words “queer” and “gay” are used numerous times in “Verge,” respectively to suggest what Harry is afraid Claire is becoming and what he wants her to be. In 1921, these terms were not as frequently used to describe sexual orientation or expression, but that connotation did exist, and the words carry a certain loaded subtext in a modern production of a play where heterosexual relationships seem as messy and flimsy as they do here. Devin E. Haqq lends a similarly dopey benevolence to the part of Dick, another beta male trapped in Claire’s orbit—yes, there are characters named Tom, Dick, and Harry in “Verge,” and I don’t think that’s by coincidence—while Paco Tolson brings a little more pathos to Tom, who for all his suffering seems to inspire a glimmer of feeling in Claire. Amara Leonard is gracefully ingenuous as Elizabeth, who’s not nearly as lucky. Neither is Ms. Silverman, who will be burdened with playing her wretched character here through November 29. I hope she has a long holiday planned after that, or at least a less excruciating project.

‘The Verge’ Is a Hothouse of Desire

‘The Verge’ Is a Hothouse of Desire

More from the New York Sun

The Elizabeth Warren Congress?

Feds Oust Medical Billing Arbitrators From Program Beset by Soaring Costs, One-Sided Decisions

Habba’s Troubles Mount as $50 Million Contract Implodes and Disbarment Threat Looms

Military Action Will Be Needed as Iran Quietly Amps Up Its Nuclear Activity

Superintelligent AI Could Seize Control of Governments, Leading AI Safety Researcher Says

Mamdani’s About-Face on Teacher Aide Bonuses Doesn’t Make Them Illegal, City Council Tells Court

Democrats Push Back After White House Threatens Criminal Investigations Into Lawmakers Who Probe Trump Administration

Trump’s $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit Survives as Judge Launches Withering Attack on Landmark Supreme Court Ruling

More from the New York Sun

The Elizabeth Warren Congress?

Feds Oust Medical Billing Arbitrators From Program Beset by Soaring Costs, One-Sided Decisions

Habba’s Troubles Mount as $50 Million Contract Implodes and Disbarment Threat Looms

Military Action Will Be Needed as Iran Quietly Amps Up Its Nuclear Activity

Superintelligent AI Could Seize Control of Governments, Leading AI Safety Researcher Says

Mamdani’s About-Face on Teacher Aide Bonuses Doesn’t Make Them Illegal, City Council Tells Court

Democrats Push Back After White House Threatens Criminal Investigations Into Lawmakers Who Probe Trump Administration

Trump’s $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit Survives as Judge Launches Withering Attack on Landmark Supreme Court Ruling