THE LONELIEST NUMBER by Playwright Lizzie Vieh Asks What Makes a Family in a Unique Way

One needs to venture forth to find this off Broadway show at the Flamboyant Theater but it's worth the journey.  The Flamboyant Theater on Suffolk one the lower east side is in a multifuncitonal apartment building, theater and communal meeting house.  There was a technical glitch that put-off the 3PM posing an unpropitious harbinger.   When the doors finally opened we were ushered to our seats by traversing around the ad hoc rickety 3 sided stage.  There was an apology for the delay saying this was the 1st preview prior to the evening's opening show.  They were still dealing with some tech issues and please bear with them.  Hmm, my cynicism was rising as my expectations for a redeeming play were lowering.  After all, the play was described as a couple floundering in their marriage who seek a third party to rekindle a marriage morphed into the mundane.  This one act, (one set) and 3 character play proved more than a voyeuristic venture into a couple swinger's life style.  The married couple Wendy (an unconvincing Leigh Williams) and Kevin (a fine Justin Yorio ) are first seen in their apartment debating whether their unsuspecting guest will be amenable to a trio.  Surprisingly when John (played stiffly by understudy Zac Jaffee) comes back into the room & offered the sexual proposition he readily agrees.  The married couple recount the doldrums in their marriage & their modus operandi for consensually bringing a 3rd party into the mix.  The following month is Kevin's chance to choose.  He astutely picks a female candidate also on board with the couple's coupling arrangements.  Arianne (a terrific Cassandra Paras) is not only not averse to Wendy & Kevin's proposition, she's no novice & is fond of sex with married people which permits sex without commitment.  Arianne, a bar tender/cashier can only commit to having multiple tattoos.  This intriguing thinly veiled comedy is uncommonly clever and at times poetic.  The metaphor of a 3 legged stool being futile represents couples feeling insufficient without having a child to keep them  sturdy & hold them together.  Regrets, emotional casualties resulting from cavalier sex and failure to find one's own inner strength are all cleverly contained in this entertaining and thoughtful play.  Playwright Lizzie Vieh is someone to follow on her way from off Broadway to the Great White Way.