A Perpetual Peter Pan: 'Kidstuff' is a hilarious look at one incessantly navel-gazing, whining woman

People who force their therapy into polite conversation are like those people who still believe that everyone else finds their dreams as endlessly fascinating as they do. And in both cases, they are mistaken. Paradoxically, however, the therapy scenes in Edith Freni’s new play Kidstuff are the most interesting ones in the whole play—probably because the focus is taken away from main character, the self-indulgent Eve (Sarah Nina Hayon).

But how could a therapy session that involves other people acting out scenes from your own past—and putting their own interpretations on your actions in the process—not be entertaining? Especially when the people riffing on your life are played by the smart and funny Vincent Madero, Sharon Freedman and Cynthia Silver. Battling with one another over eating habits, personal issues, and their own tangled romantic triangle, the only thing they seem to agree on is that Eve is pathetic.

And really, how could they not come to that conclusion when the thirty-year-old Eve presents a betrayal by her high school boyfriend as the turning point in her life, the beginning of her end? As she yells at the rest of the group for making her seem desperate, or screams at her family about her inheritance directly after her mother’s funeral, or flirts with that infamous ex-boyfriend of hers (now about to become engaged) after they accidentally meet one another, nothing she says or does convinces anyone else that she is worthy of sympathy. And Hayon unfortunately never reveals any layers to Eve other than her bristly exterior, fidgeting constantly on stage and rarely making eye contact with her fellow performers. Her Eve isn’t as charming as a little girl lost; she turns Eve into a woman composed of gangly limbs and frustrated snapping.

So, as always with shows about thirtysomethings yearning for something they can’t articulate, the bulk of the entertainment quota falls on the supporting players. And luckily, Kidstuff can boast Madero, Freedman and Silver, all in multiple roles. Madero gives an hysterically funny, physical performance in the group therapy scenes, all stretched legs and flexed biceps; Freedman, meanwhile, is perfect as the awkward girl who runs to cake every time she has an unhappy emotion.

But it’s Silver who scores the heartiest laughs as the bitchy girl in group. As Jemma, the only one who’s not afraid to call Eve out on her self-indulgence, she takes her own frustrations out during her scenes playing Eve in high school, plainly delving into her own troubled relationships under the guise of helping Eve with her boring issues. And when Eve whines for the umpteenth time that she’s recently lost her mother to cancer, it’s Silver who steals the show when she snarls, “We ITALknowITAL.” You wouldn’t want her in your own group therapy, but watching her lash into Eve is well worth sitting through the latter’s endless complaining.   Thru Sept. 27. The Kirk Theatre, 412 W. 42nd St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-279-4200; $18.