Love, mental illness, and the relationship of art to reality are invigoratingly cut apart and then spliced together in Neena Beber's Jump/Cut.
Here a trio of characters find themselves not only sharing an apartment but also collaborating on a documentary. Behind the camera is Paul, a slightly neurotic aspiring filmmaker. Paul's focus in the film is his best friend from childhood, Dave, a man suffering from bipolar disorder. Also in the film is Paul's girlfriend, Karen, a perpetual student of sorts.
While some of Jump/Cut invariably turns to the love triangle that develops, more interesting are the questions that these three highly articulate characters raise, about perceptions of reality and art's ability to capture truth, and Beber's fracturing of time in her episodic structure, which underscores the philosophical discussions.
In director Leigh Silverman's appropriately fast-paced production, the characters move in and out of set designer Narelle Sissons' bare, doorless apartment, breaking the fourth wall to address the audience. Lighting designer Mary Louise Geiger often flashes bursts of light at the audience as if to freeze the moment (not only is film central to the plot of Jump/Cut, but so is photography).
Silverman has assembled a cast of three terrific performers for this production. Michi Barall makes Karen a highly intelligent but nonetheless scattered spitfire who charms. Thomas Sadoski finds the right balance between Paul's neurotic edge and his commonsensical side. Most memorable, though, is Luke Kirby's haunted and haunting Dave. Kirby brings the character's slacker side to life with a casual ease, but also communicates his fear of breaking with reality. When Dave's disease finally takes control, Kirby proves volcanic.
Ultimately, what impresses most about Beber's play is that it mirrors not only filmic techniques, but also the fractures in Dave's grasp on his world.
Presented by the Women's Project
at the Julia Miles Theatre, 424 W. 55th St., NYC.
Feb. 12-26. Wed.-SaT., 8 p.m.; Wed. and Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.
(212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com.