Theater Review | 'Sisters In Law' 

[
      {
        "name": "500x250 Ad",
        "insertPoint": "5",
        "component": "15667920",
        "parentWrapperClass": "",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
      }
    ]

Unlikely friendships are often the stuff of great stories: Elliott and E.T. Legolas and Gimli. Rory and Paris. And because so many of these friendships in pop culture are fictional, a real life example is even more interesting (see: Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg).

Inspired by the actual friendship between the first two female U.S. Supreme Court judges Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor, “Sisters In Law,” is currently running at JCC CenterStage through April 21. The new play — which is based on an award-winning 2015 nonfiction book by Linda Hirshman — was adapted for stage by Emmy and Peabody award winner Jonathan Shapiro.

While only 90 minutes, the two-person show is a heavy lift, requiring dialogue-heavy scenes and a necessary chemistry between the two actors. Under the artistic direction of Alexa Scott-Flaherty, unstoppable forces Karin Bowersock (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and Patricia Lewis (Sandra Day O’Connor) are up for the challenge; collaborating on 90 minutes of compelling theater. The two are perfectly cast, from wigs down to heels (or the occasional aerobics sneakers, in Lewis’s case).

The set design by David Daniels is fluid, functioning as court robing chambers, the judges’ respective offices and even a hospital room. Audio and projections by Marc Cataldi offer historical context and archival footage of the women and their court colleagues from decades past. Costumes by Cathy Johnson reflect photos of the judges’ documented public appearances, from Ginsburg’s famous collar to O’Connor’s Southern Belle-adjacent wardrobe.

As dramaturg Lori Marra writes in her excellent program notes, “This play is not an onstage biography nor is it a courtroom drama.” There is clearly some creative license taken for the sake of entertainment (did Ginsburg really hallucinate about O’Connor’s advice after surgery? Probably not). But for a play with such rich source material — and a truly engaging cast behind CenterStage’s production — there’s one glaring flaw. Ginsburg and O’Connor spend the majority of the show debating their personal and political stances, from conservative to liberal and disruptor to mediator. They spend a particular amount of time on women’s rights, and Sunday’s show at CenterStage even featured a post-show talkback with the National Women’s Hall of Fame CEO Jennifer Gabriel. An inspiring and relevant focus, especially considering recent political decisions to remove women’s rights in the United States.

And yet, while the 2015 book was penned by a woman (Hirschman is a lawyer, historian and philosopher) and the show features a female cast and director, the play itself is written by a man. Shapiro is both a TV writer (most recently, Amazon Prime’s “Goliath”) and lawyer as well as the former Assistant U.S. Attorney. While his resume is impressive, there were, surely, female candidates to call on for this playwriting job. There’s something about this misstep, and the way male writers tend to write dialogue for females, that doesn’t allow the show to feel true to its intended purpose.

Nonetheless, JCC CenterStage does present an excellent production. All the pieces are there for success, in theory. But if there’s something inherently flawed about the core of a show, it will never really land. A standing ovation took place at the end of Sunday’s show — and from a seat in the fourth row, a petite older woman piped up, “If we stand for everything, does it mean as much?”

"Sisters In Law" runs through April 21 at JCC CenterStage. More details and tickets here.

Leah Stacy is CITY's editor. She can be reached at [email protected].