“Nerve”
I
don’t have much experience on the dating scene. Let me be totally
honest, I haven’t been on too many dates myself. I think the last real
date I went on was back in my late teens, maybe my early twenties. I
wasn’t the kind of guy who did that sort of thing on a regular basis.
I’ve been with the same woman since my mid-twenties, we were married
when I was twenty-eight, and that’s really all there is to any of that.
I’m not too much of a romantic, so there’s a bit of a challenge for me
to identify with the two main protagonists in the latest play at Paper
Wing Fremont- but I do remember enough about dating to know just how
awkward and uncomfortable it can be.
That’s
the main premise of the show- a young couple meet for the first time
and go on a date after some on-line interaction. He’s a co-dependent
control freak with a history of stalking and she’s a borderline
schizophrenic with issues of depression and self-abuse. HILARITY! No,
seriously, the show is uncomfortably hilarious and plays to the issues
of the severely scarred potential lovebirds with moments of genuine
affection interlaced with sudden desperation, fear, and honest
introspection. The two characters talk about their lives, their
interests, their expectations, and reveal parts of themselves that are
both beautiful and ugly.
Director
Kate Faber steps into the role of Susan in what I’ve heard was the last
minute, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell from the performance I
saw. She adjusts to the choreography of expressive dancing, captures the
manic confusion of a personality disorder in a way that’s actually
honest and compassionate while maintaining a good sense of comedic
timing. And actor Richard Westbrook matches her moves and intensity with an awkward
possessiveness that straddles a fine line between endearingly comedic
and blatantly creepy-scary obsession.
I
liked the play. I thought it was a funny character study during a
moment in the lives of two very unstable people. There’s enough here
left open to audience perception and we’re only privy to the single date
on this single night, but this is what theater should be about anyone…
an exploration of the human the experience and what different people can
experience.
4 out of 5.
