Weales reviews Wilson's play, praising it for its off-kilter performances and dark humor. While he appreciated the play text, Weales's greatest plaudits went to the cast, particularly Joan Allen as Anna.

There is another darkly happy ending in Lanford Wilson's Burn This, and another closed, self-protective heroine who must be pried open by a relentless and relentlessly vocal male. Anna is a modern dancer, who was taking her first steps toward becoming a choreographer when the death of her friend, her mentor, her roommate brought her to a mourning standstill. Her grief and her apartment are invaded by Pale, the dead man's brother, eloquently foul-mouthed in his denunciation of New York City and the world at large, as outraged - on the surface, at least - by the absence of parking space as by the death of his brother. Pale, who is about as artificial as grand...