Partners is a contemporary comedy by playwright Dorothy Fortenberry about friendship, marriage, money and personal ambition. Set in Brooklyn, the play follows two couples whose relationships are tested by competing expectations and an unexpected financial windfall. Through humor and sharp dialogue, it explores how difficult it can be to let the people we love make their own choices.
Partners – LiveWire Chicago Theatre Review (2014)
Playwright: Dorothy Fortenberry
Director: Kendra Miller
Cast: Lauren Pizzi (Clare), Wil Von Vogt (Ezra), Blake Russell (Brady), and Brian E. Crawford (Paul)
Production: LiveWire Chicago Theatre
Venue: The Den, Chicago
Smart contemporary comedy of manners offers a fresh take on maturity.
Partners by Dorothy Fortenberry tackles adult partnerships and their complex relationships. Four friends in Brooklyn share many common interests. Clare (Lauren Pizzi) is a gourmet chef just out of culinary school who photographs food for advertising agencies. Her best friend and potential business partner, Ezra (Wil Von Vogt), is a gay man who strives to make it by creating a mobile Mexican-style food truck with Clare. Clare is determined to have Ezra and Brady (Blake Russell) get married. She wants that more than Ezra and Brady do. Meanwhile, Paul (Brian E. Crawford) is the supportive yet subtly domineering husband to Clare.
Partners cleverly explores how often we become more obsessed with getting our friends (partners) toward what we think they should be (or do) than what they may actually want. Ezra cares more about Clare’s career than she does; Brady is more comfortable supporting Ezra than Ezra is about supporting himself.
This whip-smart comedy is packed with rich barbs and funny, stinging dialogue about gay attitudes, cooking, and the dynamics of relationships. Both gay and straight partnerships are intelligently and warmly presented.
When Clare receives a life-changing windfall, money and the fear of becoming a responsible adult threaten her vacillating teen-like self-image. Betrayal, procrastination, and self-preservation consume her. The dynamics between Clare and Paul, and Clare and Ezra, are forever altered as the four struggle with how much we owe to those we love.
Partners has loads to say using humor and spiky comments as well as empathetic characters in plausible situations. We love Ezra, especially with the spot-on performance by the terrific Wil Von Vogt. Lauren Pizzi plays Clare’s immaturity and insecurity honestly. Brian E. Crawford shows his true controlling ways while Blake Russell plays Brady with a devotion that expresses love.
Partners is fun, smart, and a refreshing look at maturity as it demonstrates that age and circumstance don’t necessarily translate into adulthood. You’ll be engaged and enjoy your two hours with these partners.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Jeff Recommended
Original Production Details (2014)
LiveWire Chicago Theatre presented Partners at The Den, 1333 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, through July 20, 2014. The production’s reported running time was 1 hour and 50 minutes, including intermission. These are archival details; the performances and ticket information are no longer current.