THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN  at the Booth Theatre

(Seen April 25, 2014)

Eric Coble's contemporary  realistic play effectively involves the audience in this story of an aging parent and the eldest of her dysfunctional children.  The dialogue and the characters come across as real people trying to connect, and explores the dilemma of growing old and living alone.

Although the situation that Coble creates may strain our credulity, the characters do not.

The play stars Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella as the mother/son antagonists.  At the performance I attended, Ms. Parsons was out sick.  Her standby, Libby George, was not the least bit disappointing.  She is an accomplished actress who fully inhabited the role.  Spinella, as always, was excellent.

Although the play is a fine vehicle for these stellar performers, it seems to end rather abruptly, without really resolving the somewhat absurd situation Coble has created.