The
Kid Thing
Sarah Gubbins
 |
| Desiree Rogers, Sarah Coykendall, Jaq Nguyen Victor & Kimberley Ridgeway |
Sometimes it is the unsaid more than the said
that speaks the loudest. We arrive in
the midst of an increasingly heated, even vicious argument between two African
American women -- one chugging
alternatively Scotch and wine and the other, downing equally fast her mugs of
water. Quickly we begin to wonder what
is behind those eye-to-eye looks that could kill and words that have sharper
edges than swords. After all, is the
deceased Michael Jackson and whether he is worthy of others’ grief really a
reason for these two dressed-to-impress women coming almost to blows as their
stunned and nervously laughing partners look on in what appears to be a evening
of coupled get-together? Buttons are
being pushed; and while we laugh at some of the preposterous claims and phrases
being tossed back and forth in this fiery fury over nothing, we are yet not
sure what buttons and why. And, we are totally
unaware how many more personal hot buttons will be pumped and alarms triggered during
the next two hours between these two, lesbian couples who are “just like
family.” Welcome to the West Coast
premiere of Sarah Gubbins’ The Kid Thing. Sit back and buckle
your seat belt for a bumpy, initially wildly comic, and later not-funny-at-all
ride that the New Conservatory Theatre Center has in store this evening as
topics like planned and unplanned parenting, surrogacy, spousal fidelity, and
old love flames are to engulf these four friends and spouses.
What is going to ensure our evening’s sojourn
one that will linger for a long time in our memories and follow-up
conversations is a script that sizzles with snappy dialogues, that bores
unabashedly and fearlessly into topics same-sex couples are just beginning to
face and address, and that adds complicating twists and turns unforeseen from
one minute to the next. But what truly makes
this production a first-class winner is an ensemble of actors who clearly have
been pushed to new levels of excellence and daring by a director (Becca Wolff)
who milks every intellectual and emotional drop possible from each of the
unique and quirky personalities that Sarah Gubbins has handed this cast to
tackle. Ms. Wolff then has directed a
pace of sights, sounds, and scenes that literally guarantees that the evening
flies by, hardly giving us a chance to catch our breath between gasps of “OMG.”
Margo, a conservatively dressed professor, and Nate,
her Geek-Squad and gender-neutral partner in bow tie, are spending a
long-overdue evening with PR whiz Margo (dressed ready for Wall Street in black
suit, slim tie, and Ferragamos) and her blonde, bouncy partner Leigh, a
counselor and quite evidently the cook and “hostess-with-mostest” for the
evening. Once Michael Jackson has been
laid to uneasy rest, Margot and Nate shockingly drop what Darcy calls the “the
kid bomb,” announcing that Margot is pregnant and setting off a firestorm of
opposite reactions from Darcy and Leigh.
Pressure builds over the next few days by Leigh and the other two for
hard-nosed, quick-to-say-no Darcy to consider motherhood and to join with Leigh
in having a child, even doing so with the same sperm donor, who just happens to
be Leigh’s and Nate’s old college buddy, Jacob (now Fulbright scholar and
declared “peacemaker” by profession). But
to get to a decision, there are first side deals to be made, secrets to be
uncovered, and personal fears and prejudices to be surfaced.
Desiree Rogers is the smartly attired, masculine-leaning
Darcy with perfectly tight braids forming cap-like on her head. Darcy does not casually converse -- ever. She instead fires words in rapid, machine-gun
speeds, often as bullets targeted to win a verbal battle of intellect or to hit
hard and hurt. She proudly admits,
“Stress is fun; you guys should try it,” and does not at all balk at Leigh’s
description, “Darcy’s brand of sarcasm is an acquired taste … like good
Scotch.” Ms. Rogers creates a fortressed
personality that can hide only so long the emotional battle scars of past wars
underneath her so-controlled façade.
With a voice that travels upwards in octaves as
she becomes excited -- which is often -- and happily parading about in
cupcake-decorated apron, Leigh is quite the contrast to her partner, Darcy, in
almost every conceivable dimension.
Sarah Coykendall brings ebullience to Leigh that Darcy terms “a genetic
predisposition,” riding a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs at speeds
any Six Flags Amusement Park would envy.
She moves about like a wild pinball while, with increasingly steely eyes
and locked jaw, determinedly zeroes in on a targeted goal of motherhood that no
one, not even Darcy, is about to deter her from reaching.
Her side accomplice is best-friend Nate, a super
cute, boyish Jaq Nguyen Victor with head of hair half-shaved, half-drooping
like a long sideburn. Together, they
squeal on the couch in a ball of tittering excitement about the idea of having
kids at the same time; and they plunge into a plan that Nate furiously puts into
play with flying fingers on a cell phone.
Nate, sometimes more kid than adult in looks, reactions, and demeanor,
is the mate of the rather reserved, traditional, and now pregnant Margo. Kimberly Ridgeway is more often than not the
adult in the room, bringing a sense of calmness that can certainly flare into
eyes that can paralyze another’s moves, especially when pushed by Darcy’s
relentless prods and pokes.
A latecomer to this story is lumber-sexual Jacob,
a character totally entwined in ways obvious and not in its plots. This
bearded, rugged-looking, Caucasian giant with teddy bear demeanor and puppy
eyes has donated one of his sperm to Margo and college pal Nate and is
considering sparing another to Leigh and Darcy.
(“I make a 100,000 a day … That’s a quadrillion in a lifetime … I can spare
one or two.”) Nick Mandracchia brings a
big, soft heart in that mellow voice but also an air of confident determination
behind those big, dark eyes and is not one to be dismissed or steam-rolled by
someone like Darcy.
Together, this powerhouse cast knocks the ball
out of the park in conveying a story and raising subjects that pertain not just
to lesbians or gays, but to every modern, two-career couple considering the
pros and cons of parenting, especially when that might entail a third person
enabling conception. Aided by a smartly
attractive set of an art-enhanced condo designed by Yusuke Soi; clever props of
food, drink, and accessories that make everything appear chichi enough for a
Chicago suburban couple by Prop Designer Daniel Yelen; and lighting (Sophia
Craven) and sound (James Ard) that more than work well during and in between
each scene (including Mr. Ard’s music that both echoes and contrasts the
changing moods), the evening is all but perfect. The only flaw is an ending of the play that just
plops down on the stage and sits there without moving. When the lights go down, much-deserved
applause is slow to come because, in my opinion, everyone is left wondering,
“You mean, that’s it?” Much applause
does rise as the cast finally appears. Perhaps
even though we leave a bit stunned and wondering what really will happen next
to those we have met on the evening’s stage, that is the whole point -- to
leave with more questions than answers to topics that are only going to get
dicier as our society continues to become more diverse in its family and
coupled make-ups.
Congratulations to New Conservatory Theatre, to
Becca Wolf, and to this fine cast of five for an evening of riveting, non-stop
dialogue that leaves its audience with much to ponder and debate.
Rating: 5 E’s
The New Conservatory Theatre Center continues
its production of The Kid Thing
through December 13, 2015, 25 Van Ness, San Francisco. Tickets are available online at http://www.nctcsf.org/2015-16-season/the-kid-thing,
by emailing boxoffice@nctcsf.org, or by calling the box office at
4165-861-8972,
Photo by Lois Tema
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