John Lahr: New plays by Nick Payne and Lisa D’Amour.
Enter Nick Payne, a stripling British playwright at the beginning of a great career. Still in his twenties, Payne exudes none of his generation’s glib nihilism. His voice is quiet and quirky, his imagination bold. His plays aspire to intellectual and visual astonishment, combining curiosity and compassion into . . . (Subscription required.)