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It’s a one-sided affair for Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘Happy Talk’

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A star-struck mom persists, through thorny family challenges, to help a faithful caregiver find a home for herself. A conniving woman decries those in her trust, to gain her own maximum benefit.

Each of these is a fit summary of Jesse Eisenberg’s new play, “Happy Talk.” The audience must sift through impressions of both.

Susan Sarandon stars as Lorraine, a preening amateur actress, in this New Group production at the Pershing Square Signature Center.

The role gives Sarandon a wealth of opportunity to display Lorraine’s comic vanity, often to hilarious effect, as we hear the details of her upcoming turn as Bloody Mary in a community theater production of “South Pacific.”

But the contortions of the plot demand far more than the bubblehead chatter of this self-centered desperate housewife. A dark underside lurks. And “Happy Talk” U-turns at a critical juncture, one which Lorraine’s seemingly frivolous banter conceals rather than supports.

A team of stalwarts supports Sarandon here. Nico Santos dives in with a virtuoso turn as a fellow actor. Daniel Oreskes plays the husband with a weary resignation, one hones to cover the deep well of his rage, which spills forth in a stark, chilling moment.

Since the program does not identify the family relationships of the characters, it would be unfair to identify the role played by Tedra Millan. She makes a surprise appearance, and makes the most of it, playing the volatile Jenny with furious precision.

Marin Ireland plays Ljuba, a Serbian caretaker for this New Jersey suburban family. Like Sarandon’s character, Ljuba skates along on some crackling comic riffs, oblivious to the undercurrent — one out of her control, and one that eventually overwhelms her. And the play.

The mix of comedy with something darker is a challenge for the naturalistic, straightforward context of this material, framed in cozy style by Derek McLane’s set design. Director Scott Elliott ensures that the pacing is brisk, a plus for this non-intermission affair.

The comedy does bounce along, supported by the antics of Sarandon’s daffy character and the counterpoint of Ireland’s idiosyncratic Ljuba, who fires away in an offbeat cadence all her own.

These two actresses enrich the proceedings with a dazzling sense of wit and character. Santos also maximizes the frothy momentum. But the somber turn of the writing seems undeserved and tacked-on, as if the playwright decided late in the game to inject some topical stakes onto his light-hearted play.

Only in retrospect does the veer of “Happy Talk” make sense. The production offers some late action to indicate a calculating engine behind the choices that the seemingly lighthearted Lorraine makes for her household, one in which the casualties mount steadily around her.

We get to know why, but by then it’s too late. Lorraine has been following a private script, it would seem, and the ironies of “Happy Talk” include our own misguided attention, as we laugh along, unaware of a master plan.

Jesse Eisenberg, Susan Sarandon, New Group, Pershing Square Signature Center, Nico Santos, Daniel Oreskes, Tedra Millan, Marin Ireland, Derek McLane, Scott Elliott, James O'Connor

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