Now Playing: Becky Shaw

A couple of weeks ago I attend the opening night of The Huntington Theatre's production of Becky Shaw, Gina Gionfriddo's contemporary, sassy drama that explores familiar relationships as well as those with strangers and our obligations to society. The play features characters who produce hilariously sarcastic witticisms while battling their inner demons and simply trying to figure out life. The Huntington's tagline highlights "the blind date gone bad," but really I saw this play as a feature on how we relate to other humans and choose the relationships in our lives.

The caustic Max, while disenfranchised with communal participation in society (he's more of an "every man for himself" kind of guy), is fiercely loyal to the family in which he was adopted at a young age. So loyal, in fact, that he is in love with his pseudo sister. Too bad she is married to a crunchy-feely hippie fellow who is so crunchy feely that he is drawn to any desperate woman who appears to be suicidal. The title character enters as a damaged woman in her 30s, struggling to get her life on track. She is Max's date for the evening. Sound like a recipe for disaster? It is. Max is not interested in commitment and Becky Shaw is looking for a way out of the gutter. Told through hilarious one liners and situations, perfectly parodying the dilemmas faced by the modern privileged class and sprinkled with perspective by an aging woman suffering from distress, Becky Shaw, is a play of our time. While delightful and perfectly indicative of our time, this play captures a moment in our culture that may not relate well for future generations. The dialogue is fast and snappy, like our sitcoms and movies with a cynical edge, yet does a lasting message cut through all the snark? I am not convinced that Becky Shaw will last through the ages, but I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at the Huntington. If you enjoy snarky, cynical characters and mocking our society, go, enjoy all that Becky Shaw has to offer, after all we are the best and intended audience.

- KER