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Theater

Learning to live

Thanks principally to Lippincott’s compelling Fanny, this is a strong production. The weak moments are minor, such as the example of bad acting that Fanny’s competence contrasts, with a Romeo who interrupts the naturalism of Unbound by being awful with comical exaggeration. As for the play itself, perhaps another moment could have been spent establishing Fanny’s 23-year-old naïveté. She does ask her new admirer and soon husband whether he’s a racist but doesn’t pursue the matter when he says his family is in “agriculture.” Is the woman in denial?

As Fanny Kemble wrote, “I suppose we all must decide at what point we choose to be made uncomfortable.” Unbound makes that point emphatically.