STAGE REVIEW : Hearts in Torment at Tamarind Theatre

Big city, one-act hearts are pounding at the Tamarind Theatre: “The Baby Cage,” about secretive, same-sex attraction among male and female friends at a dinner party, and “The Roof,” about old-fashioned boy/girl love-and-anguish on the roof of a tenement in Gotham’s Hell’s Kitchen.

“The Baby Cage,” by Jay Floyd, might be a better play in other hands--the writing sounds promising--but the production and the acting are amateur night. Teresa Willis’ “The Roof,” however, is solid writing, rich in motive, that is well staged by Jon Smart and credibly enacted by the caged combatants Carrie Barton and Robin Bennett. The performers convey the whiff and snarl of real-life lovers.