I don't know whether A. R. Gurney, Jr.'s "Scenes From American Life" can really be called a theatre piece…. But whatever it is called it is mostly a lovely entertainment, gently satirical and nostalgic…. [It] is a cozy, perceptive view of America, past and present, that in its own way untangles the leaves, flowers, underbrush and weeds of our culture to show the roots of this country.

In more than a dozen quick scenes, Mr. Gurney draws line sketches of Buffalo life over the past forty years:… antisemitism at the country club; shopping trips to New York; choosing between a coming out party and a college education; an encounter group; tennis sociology; well-meaning ladies fighting the elm blight; church sermons.

Some of these scenes are shorter than others, some more like cartoons than others. The characters often run through many of them though there is no real...