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Boy Gets Girl
By Rebecca Gilman
Directed by Steve Scott
Produced by Eclipse Theatre Company
At Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theatre
2257 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL
Call 773-871-3000, tickets $18 - $22
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 Pm
Sundays at 3 PM
Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Through December 17, 2006
Fresh drama focuses on stalking
Eclipse Theatre’s “one playwright-one season” delivers a new version of Boy Gets Girl by Rebecca Gillman that premiered in London recently. This is a well written, intelligent play that aptly displays the horror of being stalked. Michelle Courvais plays the victim, Theresa Bedell, the hard-driving journalist as a not-too-likable liberated woman. She is part feminist, part lonely woman who isn’t easily likable and certainly not a helpless victim. Gilman smartly avoids clichés here as the power of the play gradually builds as we realize that even a tough, smart liberated woman can be stalked.
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The story involves Theresa going on a blind date with the good looking Tony (Scott Stangland) that at first appears like so many first date scenes we’ve seen so often. But slowly, we see that Tony is a jerk and Theresa intuitively rejects him. Director Steve Scott has Stangland and Courvais nicely underplay these initial scenes. This establishes the subtle tension nicely. It boils over rapidly as Theresa’s initial instincts are confirmed as Tony’s focus quickly catapults into stalking. Gilman smartly doesn’t have Theresa giving Tony any mixed messages. She clearly was only polite and tolerant but never suggestive toward Tony.
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We see the gradual terror and helplessness when one realizes that a stalker will not stop. Theresa’s world, her job and her friends are all affected as her desperation makes her turn on everyone around her. Without divulging further plot details, let me say that the play portrays the tough choices that stalking victims face as the terror persists. This show is paced to build the dramatic tension that plays out in the terrific three-part set by Kevin Hagan. Len Bajenski plays the porno film producer, Les Kennkat, in a character who allows Theresa to understand men in a new light. Gary Simmers as her boss and Nathaniel Swift as a fellow writer try to support Theresa. These players deliver worthy performances.
Boys Gets Girl is a scary and truthful look into the devastation of stalking. We indirectly get a glimpse of a stalker’s psychic through Cece Klinger’s detective’s description. Rebecca Gilman has fashioned a deep play that brings home the dilemmas stalking victims face. See this play soon.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast\
Date reviewed: November 9, 2006
Jeff Recommended
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