Playwright: Laura Jacqmin
At: Around the Coyote, 1935 1/2 W. North
Phone: 773-342-6777; $10-$15
Through Aug. 9
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
Laura Jacqmin has concocted a humdinger of a scenario for Pluto Was a Planet, now in a world-premiere run at the Around the Coyote Gallery. It has sex, race, privilege, drugs, booze, amateur porn and, as an added perk, very pretty actors portraying desperate college students.
The ingredients are all there to get things really cooking and pull you in. But strangely, Jacqmin's sexy soufflé of a play deflates as she adds layer upon layer of unconvincing complexity.
Pluto Was a Planet concerns the initiation of two college juniors tapped into a privileged Ivy League secret society for networking. Dragged blindfolded to a campus storage room, Sabrina ( Betty Gabriel ) and Eugene ( Tim McCarthy ) soon learn of their test from two graduating society members, Cecilia ( Eve Rounds ) and Abe ( Douglas Thornton ) .
Getting instructions from 'the inquisitor' via text message, Cecilia announces that Abe and Sabrina must videotape each other having sex for at least seven minutes to show their worthiness.
Sabrina is immediately appalled, terrified that the video footage will be uploaded to the Internet. Conversely, Eugene calmly asks Abe if he has any condoms.
Eugene is almost certain to flunk out of school, and he's heard rumors that the society has the pull to keep him in. Sabrina has her own reasons for the society, though the impetus provided by Jacqmin doesn't really provide much desperation.
Things get even more complicated when we soon learn about Cecilia and Sabrina's prior knowledge of Abe, and how his longing for one of them spurs his own personal dilemma of worthiness and their jealousy.
Jacqmin knows how to get all the elements in place for a gripping drama. She even ties in nice mythological and astronomical allusions to the characters.
But in the final third of Pluto Was a Planet, Jacqmin's character motivations don't fully jibe and the dialogue suffers a breakdown ( even if the characters purport to be drunk ) . So when you take in the final shocking image, the queasiness felt isn't so much from what is happening, but from the unbelievable character shifts and reasoning that led to such an outcome.
Director Megan Shuchman does a very good job with her intelligent and lovely actors, who emote well when called for. Yet Shuchman and her actors are hampered by the space when we switch from the scenes in the bathroom to the main storage room. ( Characters just shut up as we're supposed to shift focus from one playing area to another. )
Pluto Was a Planet certainly catches your attention. Jacqmin shows that she can capture an audience's attention with plenty of juicy ingredients. But in the ultimate execution of the recipe, things just turn out unsatisfying and overcooked.