The Humana Festival certainly gives an elaborate staging to what is billed as Molly Smith Metzler's first major production. True, we are supposed to be in a very impressive guest house on an ocean-front estate on Martha's Vineyard, but, even so, when pretty young Simone shows Devon, her older sister, their weekend digs, we can understand their delighted squeals.
Simone pushes a button on a remote control, and the off-white drapes covering the entire upstage of the huge, smartly furnished, multi-level sitting room slide apart to reveal a large terrace and a vast expanse of sky and water beyond the beach below. I was reminded of the only TV series I watch solely for its scenery, "Royal Pains," which is set in the Hamptons.
Simone is employed as a "personal assistant" to Micaela, the stunning trophy-wife of the estate's apparently incredibly rich owner; and the sisters are to enjoy a weekend's reunion in this beautiful setting, which is equipped with state-of-the-art gadgets to insure the occupants' comforts. I doubt that seasoned playgoers are surprised to find that problems with the place's technical wizardry constantly occurr, the owner, Micaela, shows up and takes over, spoiling the sisters' get-together; and the situations and relationships quickly turn out to be very different from what is initially described. But some twists are less expected: Micaela turns out to be on her way out as queen bee; Devon is in every way smarter and more combat-ready than she initially appears to be; and Simone is ready to give up her job and run away with her very rich, idle boyfriend, though she recognizes that he is neither sensible nor competent and is not likely to remain infatuated with her.
The title is the run-on phrase from "L,M,N,O,P" that Devon heard as a young girl learning her alphabet and thereafter insisted upon writing as a single word, a quirk that got her set back twice in school. After a failed relationship, Devon has now retreated to her parents' basement in Buffalo, NY, and works in a popular, inferior restaurant chain. But she turns out to be perhaps the most perceptive person in the play, defeating and reversing Micaela's nasty efforts to bribe her to go away and give up her weekend with Simone. The rest of this overlong and not entirely worked-out comedy includes a rebellious, mean-spirited male servant who sleeps with Micaela and the self-loving, useless wastrel who carries off Simone on his yacht. There is a good deal of amusing satire on the lives of the useless rich, whom the playwright observed when working at jobs on Martha's Vineyard where she retreated after college to write plays. But Elemeno Pea doesn't suggest what these particular lives will lead to, or become. It is an entertaining visit, not a lasting view. Davis McCallum's direction is clear and funny, but perhaps a bit too laid back. Actors Theater's cast is uniformly strong, though I'm unsure about how much of Devon's especial interest comes from the script or from Cassie Beck's performance. And designers Michael B. Raiford, Lorraine Venberg, and Brian J. Lilienthal create a visual presentation that seems nearly ideal. 
