Five Couples, One Bed - Los Angeles Theater | Examiner.com

Five Couples, One Bed - Los Angeles Theater | Examiner.com
7/18/13 10:23 AM
Examiner.com
Five Couples, One Bed
THEATER JULY 15, 2013 BY: CYNTHIA CITRON
Emerson Collins and Jonathan Slavin
Credits: Ed Krieger
According to the dictionary, the verb boomerang (http://www.examiner.com/topic/boomerang) is an action or
statement that has the opposite effect from the one intended. In other words, something that turns into a wellintentioned disaster.
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Boomerang
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RATING FOR THEATER: "THE BOOMERANG
EFFECT"
Well, have no fear. Playwright Matthew Leavittʼs The
Boomerang Effect is not a disaster, but a triumph.
Hilarious, intelligent, and bordering on realism, the play
follows five couples through the various loopholes and
pitfalls of love.
The five couples, who turn out to be loosely interrelated,
pursue their individual relationships in a bed that is the
center of the action. In the first scene, Stephanie (Carly
Chaikin) delivers a sexual birthday present to her partner,
Paul (Luke McClure), as he turns 25. A man-child who
works bagging groceries at Trader Joeʼs, he responds to her nagging by protesting that if he had college to do
over again, he would never have majored in creative writing.
In Pillow Talk, Renee (Tiffany Lonsdale) and Andrew (Malcolm Barrett) engage in a slapstick struggle as he
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Five Couples, One Bed - Los Angeles Theater | Examiner.com
7/18/13 10:23 AM
tries to help her remove her boots, which seem to be cemented on. Finally, as they get ready to make love, she
launches into a series of totally irrelevant small talk. Later we learn that this nonsensical chatter is meant to
“slow him down” in his lovemaking.
Words with Friends focuses on a gay couple whose relationship has soured. Nick (Emerson Collins) is the one
who works, while David (Jonathan Slavin) plays Scrabble on his iPad with his nemesis, Ian Chang. David has
“dreams”: heʼd like to be an actor or a pastry chef.
With no experience in either field, he justifies his desire to be a pastry chef with the explanation “I love cookies!”
He moans that the two havenʼt had sex in three weeks and declares with an accusatory whine, “Weʼre turning
into a straight couple!”
In Des Moines a 60-something executive (Charles Howerton) traveling with his eager blonde assistant
(Katherine Bailess) turns her into an indignant termagant by blatantly propositioning her, telling her that if she
doesnʼt sleep with him he will fire her. She threatens to sue him and he flattens her with a diatribe about the
legal wrangle that suing would ensue.
And finally, in The Ignoble Fate of Timmy the Rabbit, a cheating husband (Joel Bryant) tries to talk his lady of
the evening (Vanessa Celso) into not taking his drunken protestations seriously.
And then the couples each appear again, this time to resolve or explain their earlier behavior. Does love win
out? You bet it does---most of the time---in spite of misunderstandings, miscommunications, and a plethora of
witty dialogue that often exacerbates the situation.
If you saw The Boomerang Effect when it was presented at The Odyssey last year, you might want to laugh
your way through it again. The cast is uniformly excellent and well directed by multi-award winner Damaso
Rodriguez, the set by John Iacovelli is unassuming and well used, and the costuming by T. Ashanti Mozelle is
appropriately low-key.
The Boomerang Effect may not be Chekhovian drama, but it is a helluva lot of fun. It will be presented
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. at the Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, through
July 27th. Call 800-595-4849 for tickets.
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Cynthia Citron, LA Theater Examiner
Cynthia Citron has lived and worked on every continent except Antarctica as a journalist,
communications specialist, documentary screenwriter and theater reviewer. She was Director of
Publications at Boston University, an associate vice president of the University of Hartford, and
Communications...
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