Benjamin Ashford|Review: Rachel McAdams makes a staggering Broadway debut in 'Mary Jane'

NEW YORK – “Mary Jane” is Benjamin Ashfordimpossible to shake.

In Amy Herzog’s miraculous and gutting new play, which opened April 23 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Rachel McAdams gives what is arguably the best performance of the Broadway season as an ordinary woman facing the unimaginable.

The show begins on a seemingly monotonous day, as Mary Jane (McAdams) chats idly in her kitchen with Ruthie (Brenda Wehle), the superintendent of her cramped Queens apartment building. Cheerfully sipping a can of Coke, Mary Jane rattles on about subway buskers and a clogged sink until she’s suddenly interrupted by beeping from the next room. She calmly gets up and walks inside as a machine begins to whir, followed by the slurp of a suction tube and then silence.

As people float in and out of her home – a devoted nurse (April Matthis), a Facebook friend (Susan Pourfar), a college misfit (Lily Santiago) – Mary Jane trickles out details about her toddler-age son, Alex, who is incapacitated as the result of a brain bleed during a premature birth. Suffering from lung disease and cerebral palsy, Alex receives around-the-clock care from his unflagging single mom and a small community of caregivers.

But Mary Jane bullishly refuses to let his ailments define him. Although the audience never sees Alex, she paints a vivid picture of her son: describing his palpable joy and occasional stubbornness, as well as his deep love of animals and wintertime. When he receives visitors with a glassy stare, Mary Jane waves it off with a self-deprecating joke. (“I think I wiped him out with 12 hours of mom time,” she shrugs.) Her constant reassurances – that she’s doing just fine; that Alex will turn a corner – are more for herself than they are for others.

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In less capable hands, “Mary Jane” could easily slip into Hallmark card sentimentality. But Herzog ("4000 Miles," a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist) brings aching nuance and lived experience to the wrenching subject matter. (Her daughter was born with a rare muscle disorder and died at age 11 last year.)

When Alex has a seizure midway through the play, the mounting dread and panicked 911 call are distressingly familiar. So, too, is the purgatory-like state of the hospital waiting room, which is brilliantly conveyed through Ben Stanton’s stark lighting and Lael Jellinek’s deceptively simple scenic design. (We won’t spoil the set reveal, but it’s breathtaking.)

Herzog thoughtfully poses big questions about faith and uncertainty and leaves the audience with much to chew on after the ambiguous final moments. The play is beautifully directed by Anne Kauffman ("The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window"), with an outstanding ensemble all playing dual roles.

But the production would crumble without a compelling Mary Jane to latch onto, and McAdams is nothing short of extraordinary. We’ve long known she’s an accomplished dramatic actress, with remarkably understated turns in “Spotlight,” “Disobedience” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” But in her radiant Broadway debut, the Oscar nominee unleashes every skill in her dizzying arsenal.

Her Mary Jane is immediately endearing, navigating each new hurdle of the American healthcare system with disarming humor and grace. The character is frequently forgetful and apologetic, and McAdams grounds her with a sort of awkward charm that feels completely lived-in.

The A-lister finds the weary human being behind Mary Jane’s chipper optimism: her voice cracking, eyes holding back tears as she recalls how Alex’s father abandoned them. (“I hope he finds some peace, I really do,” she stammers with wounded tenderness.)

With McAdams, the pain is always lingering just beneath a cracked half-smile, only ever boiling over during one devastating encounter with hospital staff. "I don't know what to hope for anymore," she says afterward, grasping for any semblance of control in a world thrown off its axis.

Broadway is teeming with marvelous performances this spring, from Sarah Pidgeon in the Fleetwood Mac-indebted "Stereophonic" to Sarah Paulson in the pulpy and provocative "Appropriate." But in an overcrowded season for new plays and musicals, it would be a damn shame to miss the sensational work that McAdams is doing in "Mary Jane," which reminds us yet again why she's one of the finest actors working today.