BROADWAY & ME QUICKIES

The Play: Jerome; set in a rural part of Arizona during the early 1990s, this comedy-drama tracks what happens when a gay couple who have lived in relative isolation for nearly 30 years decide to bring a third partner into their relationship when a mysterious younger man arrives in their town Written by: John J. Caswell, Jr.        Directed by : Dustin Wills One good thing: It’s refreshing to see a love story centered around an older gay couple, especially one anchored by a deftly nuanced performance from Stephen Spinella  One not-so-great thing: The running time is only 2 hours and 20 minutes but seems far longer and the time spent having the characters asking the same questions and repeating the same points would have been better spent on developing the more intriguing storylines only hinted at; plus the production could have done without one surreal scene even though it does provides a gasp-inducing coup de théâtre      

The Play: A Woman Among Women; a riff on Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” set in a wellness center run by a woman named Cleo who is a pillar of her progressive community and the mother of a daughter who is in prison for having committed a shockingly violent crime  Written by: Julia Maj Jonas        Directed by: Sarah Cameron Hughes One good thing: Zoë Geltman is amusing as Cleo’s often-overlooked second child but brings a focused energy to the role that makes her character more than just a joke  One not-so-great thing: There’s too much of everything: too many characters who have too little to do and too many distracting directorial flourishes, from having the actors break into singsong at odd moments to staging some lame and strained interactions with the audience