Old Hollywood Is Back In AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS — Review

Ava: The Secret Conversations is that unfortunate sort of play where the protagonist’s agent introduces himself by announcing: “I’m only your agent, what do I know?” 

Or where said agent helpfully reminds his client, tabloid journalist Peter Evans (Aaron Costa Ganis), that his kids are heading to a fancy prep school—a costly expense that co-writing film legend Ava Gardner’s memoirs could help pay for. 

“That school costs money,” he notes, usefully explaining Peter’s motivation. 

Or where even Gardner herself, portrayed by Oscar and Emmy-nominee Elizabeth McGovern, informs her third husband Frank Sinatra (Ganis again) of his own marital history. 

“I am not Nancy, your New Jersey House Frau,” Gardner reminds Frank. “You divorced her, remember?” 

Yes, Frank would tend to remember that. But these awkward exchanges are typical of Secret Conversations, a clumsy new play making its off-Broadway debut at New York City Center through September 14. In all three scenes, both parties are aware of the information being shared. But it is stated anyway, lest the audience be cruelly forced to suss out context clues. 

Best known for her work on Downton Abbey, McGovern not only leads but also makes her playwriting debut with Secret Conversations, a two-hander (more or less) drawn from the Evans’ book of the same name. It is perhaps not surprising, given her relative inexperience, that the actress-turned-playwright stumbles on basic writerly tasks like disguising exposition within one’s dialogue. 

Much of that dialogue also feels leaden, while the overall structure of Secret Conversations proves baffling. The premise is solid: hack journalist (and aspiring novelist) Evans reluctantly takes the gig of writing Gardner’s life story, but the two clash as Gardner pushes to keep focus on her work over three sordid marriages. Seems a decent basis for a breezy if predictable 90 minute gab-fest. 

But McGovern’s text is unfocused, jumping around haphazardly from scene to scene. A sexual spark between Gardner and Evans is dangled, then quickly dropped. The pair’s disagreements around the book are never given specificity, leaving their final confrontation mostly confusing as a result. And a half-hearted meta-theatrical framework proves needless, adding nothing of impact to the play’s finale. 

McGovern does find a potent throughline in Garner’s variously awful and abusive husbands. She is unhesitant in painting all three—actor Mickey Rooney, musician Artie Shaw and Sinatra—as controlling, obnoxious buffoons. Taking on all three roles (plus Evans), Ganis acquits himself well. But director Moritz von Stuelpnagel’s transitions are rough, and these flashbacks often feel like they exist in an entirely different play. 

McGovern is often funny as Gardner, and sometimes even moving. She certainly should be credited for restraint, as despite Gardner’s wild reputation, McGovern refuses to ham it up or chew the scenery. Her performance is instead surprisingly quiet and disarmingly sensitive. In McGovern’s hands, Gardner is defined entirely by her supreme intelligence and a surprising shyness, not the unsavory mess of Hollywood history. That’s an intriguing approach, but McGovern needed a smarter play to help her really pull it off. 

Ava: The Secret Conversations is now in performance at New York City Center through September 14, 2025. For tickets and more information, visit here.