NEW YORK—The term “party face” can best be described as a defense mechanism. Specifically, it’s an attitude one assumes in public so as not to show those you interact with, be they family, friends, neighbors, or total strangers, how you truly feel. Some of the characters gathering for a party in Irish playwright Isobel Mahon’s comedy named for that term (now at New York City Center Stage II) are adept at taking on that attitude.
In an up-and-coming suburb of Dublin, Ireland, Mollie Mae (Gina Costigan) is hosting a get-together to show off her new kitchen extension. This renovation is apparently the current thing, with several homes in the neighborhood also having their kitchens recently remodeled.
