Ruby Wilder

THEIR AIM IS TRUE Baldeschwiler, right, faces his firing squad.

Much of Brooke Allen’s new drama could have been lifted from some forgettable made-for-television Tracey Gold vehicle: Spunky Ruby Wilder and her heroin-addicted sister, Junebug, are held captive in a tiny shack by a serial killer. Ruby survives; Junebug does not. Ruby spends the next four years drinking and feeling frightened—until she runs into her former captor in a bar one night, takes him to a motel room and either exacts her bloody revenge or learns a valuable lesson about forgiveness (take your pick).

Allen’s play distinguishes itself in its structure. The playwright lands on the ingenious device of telling all three strands of Ruby’s story—beginning, middle and end—at once. It’s more than a matter of flashback: Characters address one another across time, past events prove amenable to tweaking, the present is always in flux. A gently cruel narrator tries to control things but isn’t always heeded. With these touches Allen not only demonstrates the way the past is still with Ruby; she also explores the fluidity of storytelling itself.

Unfortunately, Allen’s staging lacks the precision and nuance her own script requires. Scene transitions are often clumsy, and the cast, though earnest, fails to build an atmosphere of menace. As Ruby, Cowden is certainly fiery, but the character’s vulnerability eludes her. Ultimately, it’s a case of a good story only passably told.