Ruehl is riveting in ‘The American Plan’

NEW YORK - As soon as the dynamic actress Mercedes Ruehl shows her face in the Broadway revival of

The American Plan

, you just know that her character will be ruinous.

With an exaggerated European accent that could be from any country where people fled Nazis, she mocks and resents everyone who is not her. She controls her domain by hook, by crook and by using her dead husband's money to get what she wants. She is a life force, but a stormy one.

In The American Plan, Ruehl rules. Her character, Eva, is spending a 1960 summer with her neurotic college-age daughter and the family maid in their Catskills second home. Across the lake, one of the big borscht-belt resorts bustles with vacationers Eva can't stand. Two of them will intrude on her summer.

Richard Greenberg - whose Take Me Out was a hit at Philadelphia Theatre Company several seasons back, and who wrote Three Days of Rain, which marked Julia Roberts' stage debut - is enjoying special prestige. Many shows recently closed on Broadway, leaving fewer than usual, and Greenberg has two of them: this production, which opened Thursday, and the revival of the musical Pal Joey, which benefits from his new script.

The American Plan, whose title is a reference to the meal package at the resort Eva belittles, resonates with liars and secret-keepers. Except for the down-to-earth maid (the solid Brenda Pressley), everyone has a fascinating story and no one tells it straight. The fragile daughter, Lili, is menacing in her little deceits; if the play has a disconnect, it's that a young man vacationing at the resort would be interested in her at all after she opens her mouth.

He, too, is an enigma for the stories he tells. As the two fall in love, they must answer to Eva, who herself will not be out-connived.

Lily Rabe's portrayal keeps the daughter shrouded in mystery - is she mentally ill or does she bear the scars of a domineering mom who must control her in order to keep her? Kieran Campion (Journey's End) is the young man under her spell. Campion has an endearing stage innocence, and he uses it to outstanding effect in building his wily character. Austin Lysy portrays another guest from the resort, whose appearance in Act 2 adds a new dimension to the way the characters push and pull one another.

Under David Grindley's direction, Ruehl - who has a Tony for Lost in Yonkers and an Oscar for The Fisher King - sets the tone for the subtle battles the play depicts. Her accent is weaponry; the words come out intensely, nonchalantly delivered to cover a monumental audacity. She moves her head sharply, then focuses with riveting eyes, like an owl seeking prey.

The main element of Jonathan Fensom's design is a wide, sloping dock that changes position with every scene. It gives us constant new perspectives on the set - even as we keep getting new perspectives on Greenberg's characters.