Taut ‘In-Betweens’ Sags Under Last-Minute Twists

The problem with Bryan Goluboff’s “In-Betweens,” presented by the Theatre District at the Cast, is not with the physical production, but with the play itself, a generically gritty drama that we can’t help but feel we’ve seen before.

Act 1 begins promisingly enough as we are introduced to Eddie (Michael Reisner), an ex-con turned sewer worker who lives in a squalid walk-up in the Bronx with his stepbrother, Peanut (Hunter Lee Hughes).

But there’s a wrinkle to this familial bond. Peanut is a hyper-effeminate transvestite who considers Eddie more husband than brother.

The dynamics of their relationship--Eddie as abusive dominator, Peanut as acquiescent victim--have been established since childhood. However, when Ray (Gary Louis Appel), a recently released convict whom Eddie owes a big favor, comes for an extended visit, the delicate balance of their family pathology is tragically disrupted.

Mario Lescot’s no-frills, slice-of-life staging keeps the action taut and true, but Goluboff’s derivative drama is pointlessly cryptic, not in an intriguing sense.

Massive story points are made so late in the game, we feel they’re the result of desperation rather than design. Only belatedly do we learn Eddie and Peanut are brothers. Still later, we’re told their relationship is platonic, a disorienting bit of info, considering their pitched lovers’ quarrels.

Other characters are also problematic. A savvy thug who barges into Eddie’s apartment and makes him eat a cockroach in short order, Ray somehow morphs into a gullible victim ripe for betrayal. And although Lollie Lorianne Hill), a hooker with a heart of tin, is just the gal to accommodate him, she’s so relentlessly sexualized that she strains our credibility.

On the plus side, Hughes is a real find, a doe-eyed actor whose Marilyn Monroe-like vulnerability defies his gender.

And the set by Two Blue Chairs Inc. is so remarkably detailed, we can almost hear the roaches scurrying on the drainboard.

*

“In-Betweens,” Theatre District at the Cast, 804 N. El Centro Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. $15-$20. (323) 957-2343. Running time: 2 hours.