The Heiress, now at Arena Stage, is the kind of play where one character telling another, “You embroider neatly” is a sick burn that results in audience gasps. When it hits notes like these, The Heiress can be a delight. But it left me wondering—why did it take so long to really get rolling?

The Ruth and Augustus Goez-penned play, based on the Henry James novella Washington Square, takes place entirely in the antebellum New York City home of the wealthy Doctor Sloper (James Whalen). He’s a charming man whose charitable attitude never seems to extend to his dowdy daughter, Catherine (Laura C. Harris). While Catherine is lively enough when recounting a story about veal to her widowed aunt Lavinia (the always delightful Nancy Robinette), she freezes up trying to tell the same tale to her dad. He clearly doesn’t think she’s up to snuff. When Lavinia insists that Catherine doesn’t need to become a more charismatic person because she’s a good one, the doctor responds, “You are good for nothing unless you are clever.”

But that slowly simmering contempt becomes conflict when the family meets Morris Townsend (Jonathan David Martin), a handsome, penniless charmer who wants to marry Catherine after knowing her for two weeks. Doctor Sloper simply can’t believe that a charismatic fellow like Morris would fall for his daughter unless he was after her substantial income. Given what we know about Catherine’s inability to hold a conversation, the doctor seems to have a point. But still, harsh. How does he share his fears about Morris’ intentions without utterly destroying his daughter? When this question really starts cooking, the play is riveting. But it takes until the second act for the flames to turn on.

The problem with a play about a woman who others deem a drip is that, well, she’s not that fun to watch. It’s one thing for the other characters to find Catherine dull at the outset, but it’s entirely another when there’s little to convince the audience otherwise. Even as the plot of the play compels her character to harden, and she begins wearing her stunning dresses rather than them wearing her, there’s not much of a sense of what motivates her.

Still, the never-changing set is well-conceived, the theater in the round invites the audience into the rhythms of the family’s home, the costumes are lush, and the actors are great at delivering the many passive-aggressive snipes the script contains. There’s a lot to admire about this play—which is good, because there’s plenty of time in The Heiress to admire it.

The Heiress plays at Arena Stage through March 10. Tickets $41-$72. Runtime approximately 2 hours and 55 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.