Jeff Daniels's engrossing romantic comedy Apartment 3A has some of the best acting in town. Amy Landecker, as a betrayed woman who moves into a new shabby apartment, is a mesmerizing stage presence who plays pain, joy, sexuality, feistyness, and even complacence with a believability that is rare anywhere. As she encounters two suitors, a co-worker at a TV station (Arian Moayed) and a stranger who appears at her door Joseph Collins), both quite convincingly acted, her life turns and twists into a guessed solution that works fine. Jonathan Teague Cook, as the super of the building, gives a sparkling rendition of his trade with not a moment that isn't both real and entertaining. The play has some serious political and religious references, but mostly it's a romance. With David Newell's appropriate costumes, Lauren Helpern's simple set and Traci Klainer's apt lighting changes, the play segues from scene to scene and setting to setting rather than cutting, and director Valentina Fratti does a great job giving it the timing, the pauses, the emotionality and the action it needs. Near the end Fratti has staged the funniest sex scene I have ever seen for Landecker, and she's brilliant. You want to see a great actress? She's at Apartment 3A.
