One of the most difficult crises to recover from is assault, let alone the assault from an intimate partner. Do you tell anyone? Do you confront? Do you forgive? To muse over these questions, Tony-nominated playwright Marin Ireland (Ironbound) offers the harrowing process of life after a lover’s assault with Pre-Existing Condition, now playing at the Lower East Side’s rustic and cozy 60-seat Connelly Theater. These questions are hard to answer as the recovery process after intimate partner domestic violence is not a one-size-fits-all process, and there’s no manual to read. Or is there? Along with three regular cast members (Sarah Steele, Dael Orlandersmith and Greg Keller), a rotating cast of four actresses plays the lead and narrator known only as “A,” each with their custom script in hand, so perhaps such a manual does exist, if only in metaphor. Opening night saw Tatiana Maslany performing as our lead and narrator. After this weekend, A is played by Julia Chan, Maria Dizzia, Deirdre O’Connell and Tavi Gevinson.
Sarah Steele and Tatiana Maslany
A was on an out-of-state trip with her boyfriend when an argument led to her beau punching her in the face. No time is wasted to frame this incident — A and her man, now her ex, were not in a serious fistfight nor was A violently assaulting her man with any weapon. Marin spares us from seeing the inciting incident though the event looms over nearly every scene. A lover’s quarrel has led to unjustifiable violence, one with a severe power imbalance, and now A sits with guilt and shame when the play opens.
Dael Orlandersmith
A nameless attorney A has contacted asks, “What do you want?” “I don’t know,” she responds honestly but also defeatedly to the lawyer, played by the mercurial Gregory Connors (understudying for Greg Keller), playing other men A knows, and also her mother. We’ll meet an affable but doomed date, a childhood friend, and a man with a rough past who wants to find A’s ex for a “chat” and do what half the audience would probably love to see staged.
Julia Chan and Greg Keller
And who can blame A for her response? No one has a perfect answer to this. Though we all know the worst questions to ask. “You don’t want to ruin his life or anything, right?” asks a “friend” played by Steele (who plays multiple women, including one with a hilarious dating observation). When this provocative line hits in this intimate space, people shifted uncomfortably; I could almost hear the brains of fellow viewers screaming silently “Ruin HIS LIFE? You’re kidding, right?”
Greg Keller and Tatiana MaslanyLuckily, A finds solace and solidarity in a domestic violence support group, led by Orlandersmith holding court with warmth and deep emotional intelligence. With Steele as her assistant, the scenes in the support group are cleverly staged by Maria Dizzia with our counselors speaking directly to us in Connelly’s intimate three-quarter thrust stage, a therapeutic tap on the fourth wall. It’s these support group scenes where the play feels the most clinical, as complicated feelings and relationship power concepts are unpacked. Yet we never lose focus on A or her journey in Pre-Existing Condition‘s brisk 75-minute runtime.
Greg Keller and Julia Chan
Similarly in how this play’s performances will vary greatly with its lead changing week to week (a convincing argument for repeat viewing), Pre-Existing Condition pulls the rug out from under us a few times. With its ponderance on recovery, guilt, and perseverance, Pre-Existing Condition ensnares its audience, albeit with an enigma both you, the viewer, and a few talented actresses will all solve together.
photos by Emilio Madrid
Pre-Existing Condition
Connelly Theater Upstairs, 220 East 4th St.
ends on August 3, 2024
for tickets ($49.00 – $250.00), visit Pre-Existing Condition Play
Tatiana Maslany June 18-June 20;
Julia Chan June 21-June 22;
Maria Dizzia June 24-July 2;
Deirdre O’Connell (Dana H.) July 3-July 6 and July 15-20
Tavi Gevinson July 24-August 3
produced by Jesse Eisenberg, Charlie Kaufman, OHenry Productions,
The Cohn Sisters, Jessica Chase, and Taylor Williams
find Alex Simmons @ohalexsimmons on all social media (X/Twitter, instagram, tiktok)