Diversion ★★★★

Playwright Scott Organ tackles hot-button topics in deeply intimate, humanistic fashion. His beautiful play 17 Minutes examines the different ways lives are shattered in the wake of a school shooting, and in Diversion, his newest play at The Barrow Group, he’s turned his attention to nurses fighting to stay afloat after surviving the worst horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turns out one nurse is struggling more than the others, and when manager Bess (Thaïs Bass-Moore, commanding) calls for a meeting and announces that someone is diverting opioids from patients, the question becomes not just who, but why. Four fellow nurses are likely suspects: Emilia (Tricia Alexandro, quietly riveting), the most focused and no-nonsense of the group; Amy (Deanna Lenhart, hilarious and touching), the angriest of the lot, perhaps because of her recurring back issues from having to lift heavy patients; Mike (Connor Wilson, impressively charismatic in an otherwise slightly underwritten role), the sole man on the floor, hungry for connection; and Mandy (West Duchovny, uniquely sturdy and vulnerable, and strongly reminiscent of Renée Zellweger at the start of her career), the newbie with a challenging home life and a questionable boyfriend. When no one comes forward to Bess to confess, a consultant, Josephine (Colleen Clinton, believably walking the fine line between smarmy and empathetic in the show’s most challenging part) is called in by management to ferret out the facts and the thief.

The Barrow Group stage is perfect for this play, putting audience members just outside the antiseptic break room (spot-on design by Edward T. Morris) where everything unfolds, none of it predictably. Even as alliances fracture and betrayals are contemplated, neither heroes nor villains emerge, only humans doing the best they can, even when their heartbreaking best isn’t going to be good enough.

As with 17 Minutes, Organ has teamed with director Seth Barrish, and their creative pairing again results in a powerful drama that unfolds in quiet, thoughtful fashion. But how quiet is too quiet? In contrast to 17 Minutes, which takes place in the aftermath of a traumatic event, the characters in Diversion are in the thick of it as the play occurs. These nurses work in an ICU, and their stakes are high both on and offstage (unseen patients are dying or losing control of their bowels), yet the atmosphere in the break room stays at a steady simmer and never fully boils. The audience can buy that most of the staff can stay calm and collected, but when things really go wrong, surely someone flips their lid or at least raises their voice. That no one does either strains credulity.

The total absence of high emotion is the one slight hiccup in this otherwise compelling drama, and to be fair, it feels like that absence may be purposeful in an attempt to keep the performances grounded in authenticity. But real people sometimes get visibly angry, sad, or frustrated, especially under this sort of pressure. And what happens when people don’t get to express their emotions? They find other ways to divert them.

A beautifully acted story about opioid theft and emotional suppression, potent even when the play itself keeps its emotions tightly sealed ★★★★ 4 stars