Two
strangers meet on a plane waiting to take off from Chicago’s
O’Hare on a snowy
Thanksgiving night. The romantic flame between a college professor, Shellie
(Annie Parisse), and an engineer, Dex (Adam Rothenberg), sparks immediately and
nobody seems to be overly disappointed when the flight gets canceled. The
layover becomes a romantic affair with a backdrop of snow falling over the tarmac.
photo by Joan Marcus
The
prelude leading to the hotel room resembles one of a thousand romantic comedies
set on the cusp of Thanksgiving/Christmas/Saint Valentine’s Day. ‘The Layover’ covers all three holidays while
adding a couple of dark twists to the story of two lonely souls trying to
connect. The romantic comedy quickly turns to psychological drama with elements
of erotic thriller thrown into it.
Playing
with different genres seems like an interesting idea but it didn’t quite come
together in this play. More and more characters appear (8 characters played by
6 actors total) with the solemn purpose to push the plot forward. Whether it’s
the uneven writing or the underwhelming stage direction of Trip Cullman, but none
of what’s happening seems realistic or relatable. At least the chemistry between
Annie Parisse and Adam Rothenberg is good, particularly in two mirror scenes in
the hotel room. But before you get to the first of them, you need to sit
through three lengthy “talking heads” scenes.
The “getting
to know each other” part is long and not particularly grabbing. The dialogues
are supposed to be funny and sharp (as promised by reviewers praising Leslye
Headland’s writing talent). The playwright spreads the peacock tail of her wit
and, through characters flirting with each other, is desperately trying to win over
the audience. Dex stumbles and shies away from the flirty and confident Shellie
while she seems to know exactly what she wants and is aggressively approaching
it. Individual loud bursts of laughter are heard in the audience, so at least
somebody is into it.
What
began as a romantic adventure quickly becomes the story of dysfunctional
relationships and attempts at escaping into a “romantic dream”. I got to give
it to Headland, she succeed in creating characters whose lives are a constant
seesaw between imaginary worlds and reality. Everybody is trying to hide from
the truth in the fairytale-like narrative they create for themselves; whether
it’s a “42 year old micromanaging her own wedding” while the relationship with
her fiancé is cracking apart, or another 42 year old woman who once pretended
that she is somebody else entirely.
The
layered scenic design by Mark Wendland looks stunning and accommodates the
action, which sometimes runs in two places at once. Glass panels slide up and
down, creating different configurations depending on where we are. The gradual
opening of more and more space is a visual representation of the structure of
the play: as we move on we discover the true identities of the duplicitous
characters. The lighting design by Japhy Weideman completes the set
architecture by throwing colored shapes on the glass walls. The video design by
Jeff Sugg features dreamily blurry window views of the airport and series of
looped shots from 50s’ black and white movies.
‘The Layover’
produced by Second Stage Theatre is running through September 18th.
Schedule and tickets are available here.
No comments:
Post a Comment