UGLY LIES the BONE with Mamie Gummer at the ROUNDABOUT

Written by Linsey Ferrentino, UGLY LIES the BONE shows the fallouts of war through a female Afghanistan vet, Jess, (Mamie Gummer.)  Jess returns from battle badly disfigured and in constant pain.  Gummer, Meryl Streeps' daughter, recently played her mentally unstable daughter on the big screen in Ricki and the Flash.  Jess is suffering from PTS.  She recently returned to live at home in FL with caring sister Kacie.  The scenes shifts abruptly from their shared, run down family room to a health care facility where Jess is being treated for pain by an unseen individual.  She is given a surreal world created from her spruce, snow covered images.  A sliding bedsheet divides the set & serves to show this virtual winter wonderland provided Jess to help her move forward & set aside her pain.  The writing suffers from mawkish drama & grating humor in the guise of Kacie's loser boyfriend.  There is one  poignant scene between Jess & her former lover Stevie, a married simpleton who desires very little from life.  Jess asks Stevie to describe for her what she looked like before she left.  Stevie played by Chris Stack was convincing in his feeble character who brought damaging hope into Jess' life.  The play speaks of 2nd chances.  The unseen voice spews out vapid wisdom:  move forward & let it go.  There's little worth sinking your teeth into with UGLY LIES the BONE.