In his new drama, playwright-actor Jason Greenfield plays Michael, an affable young man, who, though fully functional, is challenged with a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. This means that while he can hold down a good job working for his short-tempered dad (Steven Robert Wollenberg), he also nervously washes his hands every couple of minutes with Purell and needs to have his shoes laid out by the bed at a perpendicular angle. However, Michael’s coping mechanisms turn out to be useless when a chance meeting with Rachel (Courtney DeCosky), a sexy, unhappily married woman, tempts him into a chaotic affair — a mess that no amount of hand washing will be able to tidy up. Greenfield’s play suffers from narrative flaws, suggesting a promising writer whose occasional, excessively sincere writing style needs to mature. Many situations are resolved too simplistically, while some patches of the script devolve into soap opera shmaltz. Yet director Abby Craden’s psychologically nuanced staging nicely balances the characters’ darker traits with likable personality qualities. And while Greenfield is clearly meant to be the show’s lead, our focus inevitably shifts to DeCosky’s unexpectedly inscrutable Rachel, who comes across as sweet and sympathetic, even as she uses and almost destroys Michael for her own ends.

Wednesdays, Thursdays, 8 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 2, 2 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 23, 2 p.m. Starts: July 30. Continues through Aug. 28, 2008

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