John Guare has just run his second horse in the Lydie Breeze Sweepstakes, while a third is being saddled up for the next race. At this rate, he will soon have the largest stable in the American theater. Let's wish him luck with his final entry. The first two nags haven't shown the stamina to finish the course, and they are being led to the starting post in confusing chronological order….

That history is happening in Gardenia, rather than being recalled, should result in a more active play. It doesn't. Guare is more controlled here, because less distracted by the progress of spirochete bacilli through his characters' veins, but Gardenia remains basically undramatized, a disunified sketch in search of another draft. The central event—the murder of Dan Grady by his jealous friend, Joshua Hickman—happens between the acts, and all that occupies stage time is symbolism, mood...