Time Stands Still

With its cast mostly intact (Christina Ricci replaces Alicia Silverstone in the role of Mandy), the production returns in fine shape, the cast having sunk into their roles and plumbed the depths of each character with a level of detail that was present in the production's earlier incarnation but which is even more acutely honed here.

Sarah, whose husband James (Brian D'Arcy James), a writer, left her alone for a time in the Middle East while she and her local guide ("fixer") became increasingly intimate, struggles to put together the pieces of a life that she's unsure of now that she's at least temporarily disabled and unable to move freely and do what she'd like to do.

All the while, James is content to stay at home watching third-rate horror flicks in search of a more palatable topic for a nonfiction book and her mentor-cum-editor Richard (Eric Bogosian) and his younger girlfriend (Christina Ricci) aren't making matters any easier.

Ricci, who's the only new member of the cast, holds her own in the most comedic and least fully realized role in the piece. Though she lacks some of the emotional range needed to bring Mandy's comic heights down to a human, relatable level, she's likely to sink into the role as the run progresses and find her stride alongside her costars.

Margulies's play unfolds smartly over the course of two hours, ethical questions raised and addressed with an adult seriousness uncommon in contemporary Broadway playwriting. Rather than searching for easy answers to life's mysteries, the play is content to explore their complexities and leave an audience to draw its own conclusions.

What is the place of the observer in the midst of atrocity? What's the use of documenting rather than helping? Is love meant to be monogamous? Or is it more complicated than that? Margulies attempts to find the blurry, gray middle place where the not-quite-answers loom uneasily.

Heading a spectacular cast, Laura Linney makes Sarah a flesh-and-blood character, incredibly fraught and yet - in her consideration of the lives of others - incredibly relatable. Linney, one of the finest actresses of our time, is able, with the graceful forward motion of one of her crutches, to convey the emotion of a scene in ways that few actresses could. It's a testament to Linney that Sarah, a character who is admittedly apt to complaining, is as three-dimensional as she is.

By her side, as James, is Brian D'Arcy James, who has rarely, if ever, been better on-stage. His helpfulness one moment gives way to anger and frustration the next as he struggles with the fact that Sarah is the star of the two of them, the one who's the subject of the public's adoration. When she was hurt overseas, James admits, he looked forward to the opportunity to care for her, to express his love.

Providing ample support are Eric Bogosian as magazine editor Richard and Christina Ricci as Mandy, his young event planner girlfriend. Though their roles occupy less stage time, each nevertheless creates a useful juxtaposition against the central couple of the play, two sets mismatched lovers - one that's able to make it work and one that isn't.

Ultimately, Time Stands Still may raise more questions than it could possibly answer, and occasionally the weight of the material threatens to crush its rather brisk, occasionally fun pace. But at its heart, it's a prodigiously smart new play from a veteran writer with a cast that rises to the occasion.

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