A Very Common Procedure: Affairs of the Heart

"I masturbate to the thought of having sex with the doctor who killed my baby."

You can't say that Courtney Baron doesn't know how to grab an audience's attention before her play even gets to page two.  A Very Common Procedure, about an aspect of the grieving process that apparently includes misdirected horniness, is full of attention-grabbing moments.  Unfortunately, she leaves them dangling in front of us, unexplored, until interest fizzles out and all we have left is an embarrassingly awkward and out-of-character final confrontation.

Expectant Manhattanite parents Carolyn and Michael (Lynn Collins and Stephen Kunken) choose to have their baby in a teaching hospital, expecting greater care in an institution where doctors are showing students how it's done.  But when their premature daughter requires heart surgery, it's fellow Anil who performs the operation.  It's his first time ever performing this very common procedure and although he is under supervision, a complication arises and the baby dies.

Left with months of maternity leave from her job and no baby to take care of, Carolyn starts pursuing a relationship with Anil.  At first it's most likely a search for answers from someone she believes to be exotically different; despite his Indian heritage, she's disappointed to find out Anil is not Hindu, but an atheist born in New York.  Though the doctor avoids contact with her at first, they're soon having secret outer-borough dinners and romantic trysts.  (Robin Vest's until set and Tyler Micoleau's lights do a fine job of depicting a variety of locations.)

Though the play deals with some painful issues, scenes where Carolyn and Michael must come up with a name for their dead baby and where Carolyn talks of the immediate difference in the way people perceive them make little impact.  Anil's reaction to losing his first infant patient is presented as no more than matter-of-fact acceptance and there is no exploration for his reasons for taking on an affair her mother.  Michael's anger when he realizes what his wife and Anil are doing is presented in a poorly written scene that seems unrealistic and completely out of place.

The eighty-minute piece may be emotionally wanting but it's certainly entertaining.  Director Michael Greif's production has the feel of urban romantic comedy, as is consistent with the script, with cute moments as the actors narrate the story to the audience.  Arison, Collins and Kunken all give appealing performances, with Collins making the most of her meatier material.  Don't be surprised if you find yourself in the odd position of enjoying A Very Common Procedure more than being moved by it.

Photos by Joan Marcus:  Top:  Lynn Collins and Stephen Kunken

Bottom:  Amir Arison and Lynn Collins

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