Sam Stein still hasn't gotten over burying 
his second wife, and now he must face the unveiling of her tombstone. 
Although we never got to meet Maggie, she was a beauty,
 according to all who knew her. Her daughter Amber takes
 after her; her stepdaughter Ellie, not so much. The girls 
were close once, when they were growing up. 

           In Arena Players' world premiere of Rita Lewis
"The Unveiling," a semifinalist for the national Stanley Award for Drama,
director Frederic DeFeis lets the 
half-sisters carry the day, as Lewis intended.
 Except for the tension and secrets between 
Christine Ann Sullivan as Ellie the academic, 
and Maryellen Molfetta as Amber, a fashion-accessory 
mogul, there's nothing much to unveil. (The tombstone is 
blank on the graveyard backdrop to Fred Sprauer's comfortably furnished set.)

          Thomas Evans as Ellie's husband looks ill at
 ease throughout - effectively, perhaps, given his role as an ineffectual peacemaker
 between the siblings. Martin Edmond as the grief-stricken, guilt-ridden widower and 
father of the warring daughters begs in vain for our sympathy. He's gotten to that
"damn nuisance" stage in life when the parent-child roles are reversed. 

          At first, we think Ellie's just annoyed at Amber
 because she's not pulling her weight in looking after the old man. Then we think 
maybe Ellie's jealous of her sister's beauty. But since there's apparently no
 man in Amber's life and Ellie's husband has just been promoted to dean 
at the university, it begins to look as though she's jealous of her younger
 sister's success with her "Amber Waves" product line. 

          But the undercurrent between them
 runs much deeper. Although it seems that Ellie is being
judgmental and Amber self-righteous, their tiffs are just
the sort that can drive family members apart for years,
even decades. What's unveiled in Lewis' fine little 
drama are the petty melodramas that make a family history
look so ridiculous to outsiders, but an epic struggle
from within. But the author draws us in as if we were
distant relatives taking one side or another. 

          For most of Arena Players' 56-year history,
 producer-director De Feis has presented at least one new play a year. Among
 his discoveries have been Alan Menken (who later co-wrote 
"Little Shop of Horrors" and "Beauty and the Beast") and 
Joseph Dougherty ("My Favorite Year"). De Feis, now 80, 
has opened the door to another promising playwright in Rita Lewis.