Through much of his new problematic comedy-drama, American Sligo, Adam Rapp, one of the more prominent figures among the current crop of Off- and Off-Off-Broadway writers, seems to be doing Sam Shepard-lite. The mood is not as surreal or dense as in Shepard's plays, and you wait a long while before Shepard-style violence kicks in, but the bedeviled, off-center people and the family dysfunctions have a familiar feel.
The story involves Art "Crazy Train" Sligo (Guy Boyd), a legendary professional wrestler facing the match that will mark his retirement. His two sons are Kyle (Michael Chernus) — who, like his father, seems chronically surly — and the spookily pathological Victor (Paul Sparks). Keeping house is Aunt Bobbie (Marylouise Burke), the loquacious and antidepressant-addicted sister of Art's dead wife.
At the start, Art, Kyle, and Aunt Bobbie are settling down for a celebratory pre-match dinner at home. (The detailed set, with its heavily lived-in look, is by John McDermott.) Also on hand is Bobby Bibby (Matthew Stadelmann), a quivering young fan who won a wrestling-magazine contest to attend the match. Victor shows up later exuding menace, and an unpleasant dinner gets nastier.
It's to Rapp's credit as a writer and a director that much of the play's first half manages to be involving, even though it's little more than dinner-table banter. It's brisk and funny. The top-notch cast, of course, is a big asset, with much of the humor emanating from Stadelmann, as well as from the inimitable Burke's offbeat line readings.
However, once Victor's menace takes over, the play loses traction and wanders aimlessly before finally deciding how to end. Violence erupts in the final moments, but the threat of it has been stretched so thin that the result is unaffecting and seemingly perfunctory. It only validated my growing suspicions as things slogged on that whatever Rapp's intentions were in wrestling with this play, it wasn't a match he was going to win.
Presented by and at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater,
224 Waverly Place, NYC.
Sept. 24-Oct. 14. Tue.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.
(212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.