Playwright: Rebecca Gilman
At: Eclipse Theatre Company at Victory Gardens Greenhouse, 2257 N. Lincoln
Phone: 773-871-3000; $15-$22
Through Dec. 17
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
We all have our blind date horror stories. But few would match the disturbing outcome of the one playwright Rebecca Gilman depicts in her 2001 play, Boy Gets Girl.
Theresa Bedell ( Michelle Courvais ) is a smart and take-no-crap New York journalist who reluctantly goes on a blind date. Quite early on she's aware that it's not going to go anywhere with Tony ( Scott Stangland ) since he doesn't even know who Edith Wharton is ( an early 20th-century American author, by the way ) .
But much to her growing disbelief, Theresa comes to the scary realization that Tony is stalking her. Boy Gets Girl then proceeds to explore how Theresa's sense of self and security gets chipped away by Tony while her male colleagues question what drives a man to become so violently obsessive.
Though it's thoroughly entertaining, Boy Gets Girl does feel contrived at times with its issue-oriented focus. It's too convenient a coincidence that Theresa is assigned to interview aging sexist filmmaker Les Kennkat ( Len Bajenski ) , known for exploitation flicks of busty women ( think Russ Meyers ) while she's facing down a stalker. Theresa's co-workers, Howard ( Gary Simmers ) and Mercer ( Nathaniel Swift ) , also throw common sense out the window when they start collecting personal items from her trashed apartment. ( You want to scream out, 'You're getting your fingerprints all over the crime scene!' )
But aside from these lapses, Boy Gets Girl remains a smart exploration on this uncomfortable subject of obsessive stalkers.
Originally premiering at the Goodman Theatre, Boy Gets Girl returns to Chicago to conclude Eclipse Theatre Company's one-playwright season dedicated to former Chicagoan Gilman. It's slightly different since Eclipse is utilizing her 2001 script revision for London.
Director Steve Scott helms a solid cast who all bring out the emotional resonance of the characters. Courvais' decision to make Theresa so strong up front makes for good conflict when she deliberately ignores the suggestions of down-to-earth police detective Madeleine Beck ( CeCe Klinger ) . Courvais' brittleness also plays nicely off her flighty and romance-obsessed secretary Harriet ( Shannon Altland ) .
Boy Gets Girl receives a handsome production thanks to Kevin Hagen's angled unit, set in grays and blacks, and the smart focus of Chris Crowin's lighting design. Still, it's unfortunate that the practicalities of the small theater space requires one shocking set change to be revealed long before it's introduced.
Boy Gets Girl remains a strong issue-oriented play, one that makes you want to take extra precautions when meeting complete strangers. In this age of identity theft and international security threats, Boy Gets Girl reminds us that we all must be careful to protect our own personal safety.