West Duchovny and Tricia Alexandro Photo by Edward T. Morris

Set in the break room of a hospital intensive care unit, Organ establishes the mystery of the missing opioids efficiently when head nurse Bess (Thaïs Bass-Moore) announces that an investigation is taking place. The staff nurses in Bess's unit all appear to be possible suspects.

First, there is Mandy (West Duchovny), the newest member, who is very green and concerningly prone to sleepiness. Emilia (Tricia Alexandro) has years of experience and loads of compassion but is emotionally drained as she deals with a marital breakup. And there's Mike (Connor Wilson), who curiously knows how much a fentanyl patch goes for on the open market. (80 bucks, it turns out.) Finally, Amy (Deanna Lenhart) is particularly defensive and prickly with the company investigator, Josephine (Colleen Clinton), and does not hesitate to throw her co-workers under the bus.

Organ has a real knack for dramatizing hot-button, current-events topics. Several years ago, The Barrow Group presented 17 Minutes, his examination of a deputy sheriff's questionable actions during a school shooting. The play goes far beyond familiar news headlines and offers a complex and moving character study. More than five years after I saw it, the production continues to resonate.

In comparison, Diversion does not provide the same visceral experience. The nurse characters aren't as fully drawn, and the play does not generate a great deal of suspense. Part of this has to do with the fact that the corporate sleuth, who often reminds the staff that she is a former nurse and has sympathy for the people she is investigating, does not raise the level of tension. Additionally, Bess, the crew leader, assures the four possible suspects that if anyone of them is indeed responsible for the missing drugs, she will make sure that they are administratively protected. As she instructs them: "Let's clean up our house first, okay? If it's one of us, stop your bullshit. Stop it. Or come to me if you can't stop."

This is all deeply humane and, admirably, very ethical, but it is not, unfortunately, the stuff of crackling, edge-of-your-seat drama. Also, Organ tips his hand too early and discloses the secret of the missing opioids before the end of the first act. (Running just ninety minutes, including an intermission, the play would profit from being performed without a break.)

The production benefits, however, from excellent performances, and while there is some slackness in the pacing, director Seth Barrish effectively captures the fraught intrapersonal relationships in the workplace environment. Scenic designer Edward T. Morris's break room is a marvel of antiseptic hospital authenticity, and its cold functionality is accentuated by the suitably uncompromising fluorescent lighting by Solomon Weisbard. (Gina Ruiz's costumes and Geoff Grimwald's sound design add to the specificity of the space that is both a place of respite and recriminations.)

For audiences looking for an escape from the obstacles facing public healthcare, such as the ongoing nursing shortage, opioid crisis, and outside entities dictating medical policies, Diversion is anything but. Organ's play does not get under the skin in the same way that his earlier work did, but nonetheless, he's a writer worth following.