Casting a critically deft and snarky eye on the themes of gender and social convention, "Boys & Girls" encompasses two dark one-act comedies about the subtler forms of human destruction. The first, slightly longer play, "Never Swim Alone," tells the story of two childhood friends (Brian Golden and Brian Stojak) in a battle of one-upsmanship to determine things like who is taller, who's more successful and even who likes horses more enthusiastically. Over 13 rounds of boxing-like competition, the referee (Rebecca Buller) slowly reveals details about a tragic event at the beach that bound the two men's lives together in bitter rivalry. Employing a Viewpoints-esque method of repetitive gestures and phrases, the three actors deftly deconstruct the trappings of the "successful modern man" at the same time that they reveal it to be a farce. The performances are fittingly stylized without seeming over-the-top. The telling and retelling of the pivotal moment in their childhood creeps around the edges of the humor until you are made to feel sufficiently uncomfortable by the play's jovial, then violent undertones. After all, there can only be one "first man."
The second play, "The Shallow End," presents a viciousness of a different sort, namely that of teenage girls spending their summer days at the local pool, tormenting another, less popular girl for no reason. Cleverly nested between Teenglish references to "tards" and the most fashionable sunblock one can wear lurk deeper questions about acceptance, rivalry and manipulation. The setting (a la "Mean Girls" and pretty much anything starring Hillary Duff) is familiar, as one popular girl awakens to the fact that there might be more to life than hair extensions and embarks on a tenuous friendship with an unpopular girl she was taught to despise. The four young actresses (Olivia Cygan, Emma Jane Hostetler, Sydney Lynch and Zoe Levin) craft themselves with flawless ease around the struggles of popularity and what it means to navigate the brutal, bodysnarking world of female adolescence.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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