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The opening show of University of Rhode
Island Theatre's season is the thriller "Boy Gets Girl", written by
Rebecca Gilman. The show is a disturbing contemporary spine-chiller about
Theresa, a woman whose life of accomplishment is quickly destroyed by
Tony, a disturbed admirer. The play works powerfully at its most
basic level, as a suspenseful tale about the unraveling of a strong
woman's sense of security in the urban jungle. Director Jimmy Calitri
states when dealing with a show such as this one, there are many powerful
and sensitive themes to excavate. The show not only deals with stalking,
but the art of obsession and the complicated nature of gender
relationships. Besides the two leading players, the cast includes her two
male co-workers, a secretary, a police officer and a movie
director. Jimmy chooses the best performers for these 7 roles and
surrounds himself with a topnotch staff, too. Amanda Downing-Carney
designs all the gorgeous costumes while the scenic design is by Renee
Suprenaut with a unit set consisting of the office area center stage, a
revolving set on stage left consisting of a bar, a restaurant, a
living room and a hospital room while stage right revolving set consists
of an inside and outside of an apartment. The lighting is by
Matt Terry and sound by Jason Brodeur. The hard working cast obtains
a standing ovation as their reward on a job very well done.
Jimmy blocks his cast very well and obtains stunning performances
from them. He knows his characters inside and out, mixes the comic and
dramatic moments perfectly. I first reviewed his directorial skills
back in 2000 when he directed "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" at RIC. It
is a frightening and thought provoking show and very realistic in
nature. Since audiences might not be familiar with this new work, I
will describe the plot. Her friend, Linda sets Theresa up with a
nice guy named Tony who works in the computer industry. It is awkward but
she accepts a second date and realizes that he isn't right for her and
politely excuses herself from the date. Tony continues to intrude further
into Theresa's life, with unexpected visits to her office, sending her
flowers and unsettling phone messages at her home. She starts to
worry when she realizes Tony knows where she lives. At her co-worker
Mercer's urging, she calls the police, but when Officer Beck investigates,
Theresa realizes that there isn't much she can do. Beck suggest moving out
of her apartment and changing her name. Despite all her efforts to avoid
him by hiding in her work and opening up to her colleagues, she eventually
realizes that he has and will always have control over her life. This once
strong and vibrant woman loses everything, becoming a shadow of the woman
she once was. Jolie Lippincott, a pretty blonde tackles the role of
Theresa, a staff writer for a New York culture and arts magazine
called "The World" with gusto. She gives her the hard drive
of a woman in complete control of her life at the start of the show. Jolie
handles the transition to a nervous, constantly on the guard woman by the
close of the show, the erosion of her confidence is wonderful to see.
She does an excellent job in this multifaceted role. Jolie played Jen
in "Small Tragedy" last fall at URI. Cory Crew, who has sandy
colored hair and an innocent face plays Tony, the psychotic
stalker. Tony changes demeanor from innocent and gentlemanly at first
only to emerge as an obsessive, demented person later in the
show. His outbursts of rage and harassment of Theresa are startling
to behold and his transition into this demented creature is topnotch
especially in the scene where he destroys the inside of her apartment.
Cory is adept at villainous roles having played Owen in last season's "The
Foreigner" as well as comic roles having played Ali Hakim in
"Oklahoma" last year. The audience isn't sure who to root for at
first but as the show goes on we learn the depth of Tony's
obsession.
The supporting cast members do topnotch work, too. Theresa's fallible
co-workers Howard, the sympathetic editor and Mercer, her fellow
reporter are wonderfully played by Jesse Dufault and Johnny
Sederquist, who was hilarious last season as Charlie in "The
Foreigner". Jesse as Howard tries to explain that maybe Tony was only
trying to be gallant. Howard helps Theresa by letting her stay
at his apartment after she is frightened to stay at there by
herself. Johnny as Mercer convinces her to call the police
after listening to one of Tony's 20 calls in Theresa's voice
mail. He tries to explain that men objectify women
in relationships. Mercer has been with his wife for 9 years. His
warmth in this character comes through wonderfully and one of his funniest
lines in the show is about the new kinds of implants that deflate and
inflate with a touch. Harriet,the ditsy incompetent secretary is
beautifully played by Stephanie Morgan, a gorgeous gal who played Ado
Annie in "Oklahoma" last year. Her character adds to the terror that
Theresa feels by revealing too much information to Tony and she tries to
cover up for this by buying Theresa presents. The no-nonsense police
expert, Madeline Beck is played by Kira Hawkridge who tries to guide
Theresa through this traumatic time in her life. She does
a topnotch job as this frustrated but sympathetic woman by telling
her how to handle this problem with a step by step explanation. Beck
explains that is it us or the world around us. Last but not
least is Collin Brown who plays Les Kennkat, a soft-porn director
whom Theresa interviews. He plays a much older character of a 72
year old man. Les tells her he made movies because he likes big tits
and nice asses. A deeper picture of him comes out later in the show
when he says the saddest moment in his life is when his wife Kathy,
an actress called Joy Box, left him. Both Stephanie and Collin
elicit many laughs with their comic portrayals. So for a look at a current
day show that is excellently performed, be sure to catch "Boy Gets Girl"
at URI.
BOY GETS GIRL ( 15 to 25 October,
2009)
URI Theatre, Studio J, Upper College Road,
Kingston, RI
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