Third

The topic here is academic life. Dianne Wiest plays Laurie Jameson, a feminist literature professor, the first woman to achieve tenure at this cloistered ivy league college which of course remains unnamed. As the play begins Professor Jameson is delivering her lecture on King Lear in which she describes Cordelia as "a masochistic simp" in other words "a traditional heroine." In her analysis, the real tragedy of Lear is the "girlification" of Cordelia.

So when a male student on athletic scholarship tries to wend his way out of writing a paper on the subject, Jameson challenges him accusing the youth of plagiarism and in effect destroying his academic career.

By now, one is caused to wonder what this play is really all about and why Wendy Wasserstein bothered to write it. As a feminist, Jameson seems to have had brighter days than these. Menopause has driven her over the edge and her own father's rage and confusion, he suffers from Alzheimer's, is not a pretty sight. That role played by Charles Durning is a sympathetic one, whereas hers should not be. But, Weist in her earthy, engaging portrayal brings out the character's stoicism and her humanity.

Still, the one who wins us over is the young man Woodson Ball III. As played by Jason Ritter he's just a vulnerable youth, a card carrying Republican and therefore an outsider in this self-consciously liberal environment. But so what?

To bring closure to this story, Jameson visits him in his dorm room after graduation as though she recognizes her mistake. He, recognizing the need to choose a more appropriate path, has planned to transfer to the state university where he's received a scholarship.

The moral of it all is about how people form judgments, how important it is to form them well and how to accept it when others don't. As played it's not at all a clever moral.

That’s This Week Off Broadway. I’m Isa Goldberg.