DCist is through with living a lie. We have to confess: we're developing quite the crush on Kate Eastwood Norris.

After seeing her shine as the barb-tongued Beatrice in Folger’s Much Ado About Nothing last October, it was no surprise to catch the Helen Hayes award nominee investing Anna, one half of the tumultuous lesbian couple at the center of David Mamet’s Boston Marriage, with the same kind of unbridled energy and wry wit we saw in her previous performance.

But Anna, if possible, is an even more volatile firecracker than Beatrice. In Boston Marriage, now being staged by Actors’ Theatre of Washington at the ill-fated Source Theatre, she is left heartbroken and furious when Claire (Jenifer Belle Deal), the woman she loves, informs her she’s been replaced with a younger model. Even worse, due to circumstances, Claire audaciously wishes to use Anna’s home as the spot for her first liaison with her new love.

Act One revolves almost entirely around Claire’s attempts to convince Anna to acquiesce to the arrangement, and while that may not sound like enough to carry a play, the rapid exchanges Mamet gives the pair are amusing enough to move us easily to intermission. At one point, Claire calls Anna an "evil old bitch"; Anna’s haughty response? "I am not old!" Deal and Norris chew eagerly on the these delicious lines (particularly delightful are some of the insults they sling at each other, from "pagan slut" to "you look like a plate of old stew"). And while Deal's delivery lacks some of Norris' nuance, she largely proves to be an able foe who gets a few scene-stealing moments of her own, particularly the times when she’s comically consumed by lust.

Also lending a bumbling hand to the proceedings is Anna's maid (Elizabeth Simmons), a naïve Irish servant whose ancestry becomes the fodder for some hilariously overwrought insults delivered by Anna. Simmons is a nice presence, whether she's meekly hovering in the background or sobbing uncontrollably centerstage.

ATW smartly has decided to capture Boston Marriage’s Victorian setting in a variety of ways, from rich, brocaded costumes and drapes to chintzy, visually-assaulting wallpaper which is played up for laughs in the script. Particularly inspired is the decision to open both acts with the bold musical stylings of Miss Rachael Anne Warren, a chesty-voiced burlesque singer who delivers saucy, seductive versions of such classics as "My Wild Irish Rose" and "Daisy".

The play loses some steam during Act Two, as Mamet seems to get a little too caught up in crazy metaphors and plot machinations. But while the laughs are fewer, there are enough of them to have us still thanking him for a solid script, one worthy enough to stand up to ATW’s fine staging and casting.

Boston Marriage runs through March 29 at Source Theatre in DC. More information is available on the theater's web site.