VERONICA'S ROOM
by IRA LEVIN
In one sort of suspense thriller, the audience is let in on a secret that the characters do not know. In another, the characters possess some piece of knowledge that the audience is in the dark about. Inadvertently, Ira Levin has written a mystery in which his characters seem to know something that has eluded him. Veronica's Room poses a puzzle in the first act and tries to resolve it with three or four new puzzles in the second act. Result: frustration.
Despite its ultimate failure, the play is not badly written, and an air of expectancy, abetted by...