A ‘Glass’ Sometimes Too Transparent

The title of Marci Crestani’s “Against the Glass” at the Court refers to a trapped bird that bashes against the clear glass of a kitchen window. It’s an obvious symbol for Crestani’s frustrated female characters, both of whom have been injured in troubled relationships.

To extend the metaphor, there just might be a mature play trying to escape the confines of Crestani’s transparent comedy-drama, but at present, it’s a confused and battered fledgling.

Amy (Saxon Trainor), a struggling San Francisco artist who has just been jilted by her married lover, flies to rural Illinois to visit her grandparents Ed (Joseph G. Medalis) and Zebe (Shannon Welles). Ed and Zebe have been married almost 60 years, but underneath their placid domesticity, discontent roils.

A colorful prankster with a dark side, Ed has been routinely unfaithful to Zebe, who for her part is tired of her role as marital martyr and poised to fly the familial nest. Complicating adulterous matters even more, Amy is smitten anew with the married Peter (Doug Vogel), her former high school crush.

From its kitschy Midwestern kitchen to its junk-filled garage, Thomas Buderwitz’s set is a gem of realistic detail. Dan Weingarten’s lighting, Pamela Shaw’s cozy-contemporary costumes and Julie Ferrin’s sound are also excellent.

Much effort and expense has obviously been put into this enterprise, but the production suffers from a pervasive imprecision. Despite some zinging one-liners, Crestani’s characters chit-chat innocuously for much of the faltering action. Similarly hit-and-miss, Jenny Sullivan’s television-glib direction is as insubstantial as her material. Worse, the performers, particularly Welles, seem under-rehearsed and hesitant. Maybe the going will get smoother during the course of the run, but for now, this ‘Glass” is half empty.

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* “Against the Glass,” Court Theatre, 722 N. La Cienega Blvd. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends April 9. $25. (310) 289-2999. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.