Kathleen Chalfant and Elizabeth Marvel in 'The Dinosaurs'

Jacob Perkins's The Dinosaurs opened on Monday at Playwrights Horizons, under the direction of Les Waters. Waters conjures an almost eerie ambience that sits oddly against Perkins’s relatively naturalistic script, which slips in familiar markers of 12-step meetings: a Serenity Prayer, anniversary tallies and chatter about baked goods.

That atmospheric tilt feels more gratuitous than part of any larger design. The actors assemble a featureless space into a recognizable meeting room—folding chairs in a semicircle, pastries and boxed coffee to one side—while small talk suggests a group with a degree of intimacy.

The dots collective handled the scenic design, which appears to have leaned on a trip to Lowe’s. The gathering is Saturday Survivors, a women- and trans-inclusive group united by alcoholism, and the production benefits from an overqualified cast that includes Kathleen Chalfant, Elizabeth Marvel, April Matthis, Mallory Portnoy, Maria Elena Ramirez and Keilly McQuail.

kathleen chalfant, elizabeth marvel, the dinosaurs, jacob perkins, playwrights horizons, les waters, 12-step, saturday survivors, scenic design, alcoholism