Once upon a time, the playwright was the ultimate critics' darling: accolades galore, hype, awards --- you know the deal. Now it's the sunset of a new day, and there are new critics' darlings, with the same accolades, etc. --- you know that deal, as well. Only too well!
Now, with revivals of two Shepard plays this season, they appear as the sorry items they are. No doubt, the same fate will one day befall the fetid output of today's darlings. But in the meantime, the poor audience suffers through these trials in a nonstop nightmare.
As for the clumsy, lumpen opus in question, it's quite the slog at two hours without intermission. Ed Harris acquits himself well, while some of the cast members are still finding their way. But then, what are they finding their way to? It's like wandering through a desert only to arrive at ... another desert.