Craig Lucas' The Singing Forest, now making its New York premiere at the Public Theater, is nothing if not ambitious. Spanning over 60 years (in over two hours and 45 minutes including two intermissions), the play has an epic scope that covers such weighty topics as the Holocaust, psychoanalysis, and family dysfunction. However, in its uneasy melding of drama and farce, the work is only intermittently effective, particularly in director Mark Wing-Davey's muddled production. Ultimately, the play would be more powerful with an abbreviated running time and a clearer focus.

At the center of the story is Loë Rieman (the always terrific Olympia Dukakis), who we first meet at an Alcoholics A[...]