The plot of Wendy Wasserstein’s “Third” revolves around a teacher who is convinced her student has plagiarized a report. She can’t believe he is capable of writing such a sophisticated paper. It’s also quite clear the staunch liberal teacher disagrees with the student’s more conservative views.

Though the play seems unfinished, I appreciate Wasserstein’s going against the normal theatrical liberal grain. Usually media and artists paint the conservatives as the offending stereotype.

Overall, the play’s message is an important one, albeit age-old. Don’t judge a book … Yet I have difficulty understanding why this teacher (Christine Lahti) would jump to these conclusions and work so hard at proving this student (Matt Czuchry, “Gilmore Girls”) wrong when there was no proof of plagiarism provided.

Wasserstein, writer of contemporary classic plays such as “The Sisters Rosensweig” and “The Heidi Chronicles” along with the screenplay for The Object of My Affection, passed away of lymphoma in early 2006, shortly after “Third” was completed.

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