(Enlarge) Christopher Krysztofiak and Lucia Diaz-French play the young couple plunged into a family drama in “Bloodlines,” opening the 2009 Baltimore Playwrights Festival weekends through July 5 at the Fells Point Corner Theatre. (Photo by Ken Stanek)

Whenever you settle into your theater seat to see a new play, you ask yourself this question: How is this play different from all other plays? That question will be repeated throughout the summer with the annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival.

Showcasing new plays at several theaters in the area, the festival gets off to a pretty good start with Daniel Baum's "Bloodlines" at Fells Point Corner Theatre. It's a thoughtful examination of Jewish identity that manages to overcome an occasionally awkward narrative structure.

Thematically centered around a family's Passover Seder, the play sensibly places the dinner table at the center of the stage. The college student at the narrative heart of the play, Sarah (Lucia Diaz-French), asks questions about family history that are bound to reveal family secrets. Sarah is doing an oral history project for school, further solidifying her function as narrator.

We're introduced to Sarah's widowed Muslim mother, Lila (Janise Whelan); the boyfriend Sarah brings home for the Seder, Josh (Chris Krysztofiak); and Sarah's paternal grandparents, Herb (Mike L. Barrett) and Miriam (Dianne Hood).

Although Sarah was raised Jewish, the fact that her mother is not Jewish proves a worry for the religiously stringent Josh and Miriam.

The playwright has a durable dramatic situation here, but the play has a tendency to tell rather than show. Besides engaging in polemical debates around the table, individual characters periodically walk to side platforms and deliver monologues that feel like speeches in their own defense.

Also, Sarah's narrative voice routinely explains the ritualistic meaning of each phase of the Seder. Although this information will be appreciated by non-Jewish audience members, its quasi-lecture nature adds to the play's static quality.

The stilted tone is somewhat offset by several of the performances. A reliable presence on local stages, Janise Whelan brings a warm maternal presence to the role of Lila. She conveys a mother's love for Sarah, and Lucia Diaz-French neatly embodies Sarah's earnest personality.

The other performances are capable, but Mike L. Barrett has enough shaky line readings as the grandfather to throw off the pacing in several scenes.

This play's numerous short scenes take us through aspects of the meal and also of the family history. Considering those many brief segments, co-directors Marianne Angelella and Peter Shipley do a reasonably smooth job of handling Passover traffic management.

The play does get you thinking about the role played by religion in family life. Some of the emotionally charged issues it taps into are specific to Judaism, while others will be found at virtually any family dinner table.

"Bloodlines" runs through July 5 at Fells Point Corner Theatre, at 251 S. Ann St., in Baltimore. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $17 Friday and Saturday, $15 Sunday, $10 Thursday. Call 410-276-7837 or go to www.fpct.org.

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