Playwright: Michael Stock
At: Sideways Theater Company at American Theater Co., 1909 W. Byron
Phone: (877) 238-5596; $16
Runs through: June 27
If Feed the Hole were as provocative as its title, we might have something exciting on our hands. But as we wade through a banal two hours of sitcom-level dialogue being spouted by mostly unlikable characters, our only payoff is that the title refers to the void we seek to fill when our hearts are empty. This Hallmark sentiment pretty much sums up the tone and tenor of this work from the young, Northwestern-educated playwright, Michael Stock, who also stars in this vehicle, produced by the new Sideways Theater Company.
The set-up and subject matter here have pretty much been done to death, and better, as far back as Madame Bovary and probably long before even she cheated on her physician husband. This story of infidelity and how it resonates in a twenty-something circle of friends would only seem lively to someone who hadn't been exposed already to its tired plot trajectory. Twenty-somethings, maybe? Folks who had been raised on a diet of Friends?
Shelly (a wooden caricature by Leah Gale) is cheating on her live-in boyfriend, Brett (Michael Stock). As the play progresses, we really can't blame Shelly for attempting to find a little excitement. Brett is a boorish yuppie, crass and unable to connect on any level with his partner. Part of the problem here is that Brett is so unsympathetic that we have no reason to pull for the relationship, or to even understand how it came about in the first place. Poor cuckolded Brett is the only one who doesn't seem to know that his girlfriend is screwing a buddy of his on his very own kitchen table. This small circle of 'in-the-know' pals include John (Scott Victor Nelson, in one of the play's more understated and natural performances), a gay man who hangs out with the other 'girls,' and acts as a confidante while negotiating the waters of his own unfulfilling relationship; and Rob (Andy Hager) and Sam (Mara Levin), a couple who have their own problems but hold the key to solving them and staying together (of course, that key is communication with compromise, no surprises there). The effect of the infidelity varies from friend to friend, but seems to have a commonality in how it helps each shore up what matters to those revolving around the doomed couple. When Brett and Shelly finally do break up, it's a scene that cries out for—pardon the pun—a unique climax, which is not forthcoming. Shelly merely intones, a la 1,000 self-help books, that she is not responsible for Brett's happiness.
Feed the Hole might be slightly more palatable if its performances were more on target, but mostly the actors appear to be working too hard at 'acting' to come across as the naturalistic characters the play requires. Its New York City setting, 'after September 11 and Before the Public Smoking Ban' really has nothing to do with the show and time and place are not utilized to any significant degree.
Stock does demonstrate some promise (when he learns to avoid clichés and create more sympathetic characters, he might be a force to be reckoned with), but not enough to make Feed the Hole a worthwhile evening of theater.
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