THE PLAY: A college dean deals with the “extinction” of their natural history museum, while coping with her young girlfriend and her ailing ex.

THE PRODUCTION: Let’s tackle the play: From the opening scene, it was obvious that this is painfully over-written. Every scene could be at least half as long. At the core is a potentially effective romantic drama. The extraneous elements (the diorama and the newspaper-reading caretaker) are supposed to add social and satirical commentary, but instead they clutter the core of the play’s relationships.

As for the production: This solid cast is comfortable with their characters. They assuredly create warm interactions and even a few moments of comedy. Director Lucien Restivo has focused on their connections and extracted humor out of 3 characters’ millennial attitudes. Even so, the excessive dialogue drags the pace. By creating 5 areas, Chris Raintree’s set makes efficient use of the space, but doesn’t add any attractiveness to the humdrum surroundings. The other technical elements are fine. Running time: 2:40

THE POINT: Even if you sit thru all the surplus dialogue and commentary to uncover the affecting relationship story, the extended length makes it hard to handle.

(2.5 / 5) That’s and average of 4 stars for the production, but only 1 star for the play.

At Richmond Triangle Players thru 5/4