Isn’t It Romantic

The play deals with the post-college careers (and dilemmas) of two former classmates: a short, slightly plump would-be writer named Janie Blumberg, and her tall, thin, gorgeous WASP friend, Harriet Cornwall. Both are struggling to escape from lingering parental domination and to establish their own lives and identities. In Janie’s case this leads to an inconclusive involvement with a young Jewish doctor who calls her “Monkey,” while Harriet assails the world of big business and has an affair with her hard-driving (and married) boss. Told in a fast-moving series of inventive, alternately hilarious and touchingly revealing scenes, the play explores their parallel stories with uncommon wit and wisdom—resulting, ultimately, in a heightened awareness which, while not providing all the answers, goes a long way toward achieving the maturity and self-assuredness that both protagonists so desperately desire.