Marie and Bruce; Play by Wallace Shawn. Directed by Wilford Leach

Marie and Bruce" wallows in the miserable squalor of a failed marriage. Wallace Shawn's rambling case history of wifely frustration unfolds by turns in repugnant first-person recitals and sketchy comic scenes. The generally dreary business at the Public/Newman Theater wastes the talents of Louise Lasser (TV's Mary Hartman) as a slattern who lashes her husband with obscene invectives and Bob Balaban as the infuriatingly complacent object of her disaffection. The play was directed by Wilford Leach who, with Jim Clayburgh, designed the functional scenery.