In Big Sky, now in its world-premiere run at the Geffen, yet another dysfunctional family disintegrates before our eyes, in blackly comic fashion. Written by the much-produced playwright Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros and skilfully directed by John Rando, the play (which has its eyes on a Broadway run), is set in an elegant Ritz-Carlton condo in Aspen, Colorado, the rich-person’s favorite ski resort. Residing in the condo are Jack (Jon Tenney) and Jen (Jennifer Westfeldt), a tenuously married couple, and their precocious teenaged daughter, Tessa (Emily Robinson). Visiting with them is Jonathan (Arnie Burton), a sharp-tongued, long-time friend. The four members of the quartet have their secrets, all of which will eventually figure in the scheme of things. Nature, in the form of a raging blizzard, also plays a role in determining the destiny of these blighted people, the economic problems in the USA as well. The prospects of a well-paying job have brought Jack and Jen to Aspen, courtesy of the Anderson Fund, a big-time financial institution. The Fund is footing the bill at the Ritz Carlton while final interviews are being held. Jack, a whiz at the derivatives game, has made big money on Wall Street in the past and feels pretty confident that he will be tapped to fill the open position. While waiting for the decision to be announced, Jack and Jen swill expensive French wine (a gift from the Fund) and try to rejuvenate their somewhat troubled marriage. Jack attributes this to a lack of passion, a coldness, on Jen’s part. She in turn blames him for having taken her for granted, ignored her needs. Vassilaros depicts their conflict in largely comic fashion: wisecracks abound, absurdity, as well, with the uptight Jen drawing laughs for her bizarrely neurotic behavior. Jonathan, who is gay and just a bit campy, is strongly humorous himself, especially in a scene with Tessa in which she reveals that she’s in love with a 45-year-old Native-American elevator operator. While puffing on some of Jonathan’s weed, she pours her adolescent heart out, denouncing her parents for their white-man’s materialism, announcing her intention to live on a reservation with her lover. The first act of Big Sky, funny and biting as it was, seemed formulaic and slight to this reviewer, but the second act wiped out those reservations, if only because the playwright began going deeper into character. Not just secrets were revealed but genuine, powerful feelings and truths which have relevance to the way many of us live today, in an oft-uncaring, savagely cruel society. Big Sky deserves praise for its vivid writing and its superb ensemble acting.
