Presented by Playwrights Horizons, casting by James Calleri, at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 W. 42 St., NYC, June 15-July 6.
On a really bad date, you just want to get away. Theresa Rebeck's play "Bad Dates" is more like the kind of situation that you know just isn't going to fly, but the person is so nice that you stay, enjoy the evening well enough, and move on.
Julie White's 90-minute solo turn as Haley has many pluses. White is a superb monologist who is believable and sympathetic recounting her travails as a divorced mother who takes on a survival job as a waitress, discovers she has a talent for running a restaurant, and turns her shady jailbird boss's mere front of a business into a popular dining spot.
Then Haley returns to the world of dating. Her insecurities are also believable. The gimmick of portraying her 13-year-old daughter, Vera, through suddenly turned-up, blaring rock music—as Haley dashes off stage to the teenager's room to ask whether this or that pair of shoes fits the bill—is clever and funny.
But Haley's dating travails aren't, at least not on a sustained level, though there are cute moments and White is charming. We get the idea quickly. Haley tries hard but the guys are duds. There are moments of real pathos—particularly Haley's disappointment when she finally appears to be on the verge of a real romance, only to realize it's not going to happen. And the offstage characters—her brother, a co-worker (both spoken to on the phone), daughter Vera, and the various dates—are all believably brought to life by White.
But the play is too long and meanders too much. For all of White's skill, one never comes to care strongly about Haley, even when her fate takes a surprising turn that should be suspenseful. Playwright Rebeck, first-time director John Benjamin Hickey, and White come close. A bit of reworking might do the trick.