wallflower

The humor comes off like a wallflower at a party who is racing with so many awkward thoughts that when it’s finally time to speak, they blurt out something rude.

In it, Streep’s character, a fading but indomitable Hollywood actress named Madeline Ashton, is reunited with her old friend, Hawn’s wallflower novelist Helen Sharp.

Until now, her character, Penelope Featherington, has been content to be a wallflower in the ballrooms of Regency London, allowing her to observe and secretly write a society scandal sheet under the pseudonym Lady Whistledown.

Some wallflowers also have red, white or purple blooms, and the plants will reseed to grow back in the spring.

McInerny gives an especially strong performance as Sam’s dependable sister — a wallflower who delivers the most incendiary line of the play.