The power of the 'Pen': David Marshall Grant's darkly comic drama about destiny

Can we write our own fate? David Marshall Grant ponders that question on a couple of levels in his surprising dark-comic drama "Pen," currently on view in an entertaining Washington Stage Guild production. To begin with, Grant has dreamed up the eponymous writing implement, the cherished possession of a cantankerous divorcee in 1969 Long Island. After the character loses her rare red-ink-cartridge device, the life she shares with her high-school-age son takes a shocking and revelatory turn.