Some Girl(s) & Defiance

What is the deal with these family portrait play posters? The last two plays I've seen, this is the only image I can find to put on my blog. Not a play poster or program, just a family picture. I don't like it.
Last week I saw Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s). I enjoyed it, but I don't have much to say about it. I found it a solid production, and I was interested throughout. It seemed, for a while, that maybe he was going veer from his characteristic cynicism, but overall, it was still pretty standard LaBute. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I thought Eric McCormack was pretty good, there was only a moment or two of Will (which I guess is really a moment or two of Eric, but you know what I mean). As for the girls, they were all good, Maura was the standout, but part of that was because her character was the strongest. And part of that is just because I like her. Also noteworthy was the set. The play is four scenes, and four different hotel rooms. In the first scene, Eric says he always stays in the same hotel (it's a nationwide chain), so I thought that was a pretty neat and conservative way to explain using the exact same set (which was very detailed) for all four locations. Oh no, they changed it. It was always the same furniture, but everything else changed everything (including the walls), and the crew all wore hotel cleaning uniforms, and the transitions were very sharp. If you get a chance, you should see it.
Last night I went to Defiance. Doubt was a little disappointing to me (I think a combination of overhype and seeing the 2nd cast), so I wasn't going to see Defiance, but Patrick decided not to tape it, and there were discount tickets available so I figured I'd check it out. The play has problems, but I'm not sorry I went to see it. Click on the link in my sidebar to see the NY Times review, I agree with it. The play tries to talk about racial issues within the microcosm of a marines base, but it tries to do too much in not enough time. I actually was interested in most of the characters (although they were all played in a very heavy handed way, which I'm surprised Doug Hughes allowed, or wanted), but you never get to know any of them enough to really feel for them or understand them, so I ended up frustrated. I would rather have spent more time with one of them. But as I said, I'm not sorry I saw it, and I met a very interesting fellow there, but that's for another post.