In his latest play, Love-Lies-Bleeding, now being staged at the Kennedy Center, renowned author Don DeLillo seems to have capitalized on the societal rift that divided the country during the Terri Schiavo scandal: Is it ethical to end the life of an individual in a “persistant vegetative state”? And while DCist commends him for not merely exploring the two sides of the ethical debate and instead focusing on the interpersonal ramifications of one family’s story, the problem is that while the stakes are high, this story isn’t partictuarly riveting. In fact, it’s kind of dull.

The problem seems to lie in the dialogue of DeLillo’s tale, which chronicles what happens when a man’s son and ex-wife approach his current wife to convince her to end the life of the man for whom she spends her days caring. We get a taste of who the man once was in a flashback, where he is played by another, younger actor (John Heard, known to the distinguished theatregoer as “the dad from ‘Home Alone'”). To say DeLillo’s words are more suited to the page than the stage is too great a generalization. But there’s something stilted in the back-and-forth, rhythmic exchanges here, all seemingly soul-searching and reflective, but ultimately never revealing much of interest.