Don Nigro's play starts out like a romantic comedy or a sitcom, with a most unusual meet-cute. Writer-librarian Ben (Gabriel Oliva) has fished out of the ocean a naked and struggling Tracy (Christine Daly), who may have been attempting suicide; she claims she was "dancing." As soon as she returns to full consciousness in Ben's house, she turns into a pugnacious, bullying termagant, demanding service as if she were staying at a hotel. She tosses Ben's belongings on the floor, calls him a eunuch because he didn't rape her, accuses him of being weak-willed and wishy-washy, steals his sandwich, and physically assaults him, bloodying his nose. When he leaves her stewing in her own angry juices on his sofa and goes to bed, she follows him there. So far, so good. It's quirky but not impossible. Her outrageousness and his bemusement are funny, the actors are skillful, and the direction is taut.
Come morning, she's no less abusive but seems ready to move in with Ben. His conviction that her hostility is rooted in fear of rejection is not unconvincing. But later, when she realizes she's pregnant, things get dire. She continues to be ruthlessly high-handed, discounting everything he says and wallowing in self-hatred. "Stop telling me what I think!" he demands, to no avail. She's violently determined to hold on to her obsessive patterns, and he's apparently unwilling to leave her, perhaps feeling that anybody is better than nobody. We're given an explanation of her fearful, destructive behavior, but it seems simplistic and beside the point. Nothing could justify her self-righteous shrewishness. Presumably they'll go on, pursuing the same disastrous courses, and live unhappily ever after.
It's hard to know what to make of this sad tale or why the writer has told it to us. The story is inescapably dark, and it doesn't seem to go anywhere, circling round and round upon itself. The play is well-written, director Dan O'Brien has given it a skillful production, the actors are a well-matched team, and designer Sean Meyer provides a handsomely detailed setting. All that's lacking is a sense of purpose.
Presented by the Lyric Theatre Foundation in association with Lost Dog Entertainment at the Lyric Theatre,
520 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.
Fri. 8 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m. Mar. 7-Apr. 6.
(323) 939-9220. www.lyrictheatrela.com.
