HARTFORD – Put those salacious thoughts about “Sex With Strangers” aside for the moment. Laura Eason’s well-received play, at TheaterWorks in Hartford through April 17, is one of the most-produced contemporary American plays being seen in regional theatres this year. Eason, with twenty full length plays, stage adaptations, and musicals to her credit (including the Hartford Stage production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) has made a name for herself recently as producer and writer on TV’s House of Cards.
Sex With Strangers is the tale of two writers. Olivia, played by Courtney Rackley, is a long form fiction writer, nearing forty, with one barely successful novel to her credit. Ethan, played by Patrick Ball, is a widely successful blogger, whose Sex With Strangers recap of his sexual exploits, is sizzling on the Internet and the New York Times Bestseller List. They meet at a snowbound bed-and-breakfast retreat for writers. They mix instantly. She’s a bit old-fashioned in her interactions and her writing. She wants an agent, an editor, and a publisher, who will print her new work in book form. She also wants to know someone before she jumps into a liasion. He’s an Internet communicator, blogging, posting, publishing online, building apps to sell his work, and at a loss when the wifi goes down. He Googles his conquests. Sex With Strangers deals with their intense chemistry, their longing to find a mutual venue for communication, and their aspirations as writers.
Eason has created two interesting characters, and given them a matter-of-fact dialogue with some surprise twists along the way. Rob Ruggiero’s staging is flawless, and I think makes Sex With Strangers to be a more potent character study than written. Brian Prather has designed a nice setting – a rural country place, which morphs into a chic Chicago apartment. Amy Clark’s costume designs, John Lasiter’s lighting designs, and Fitz Patton’s sound designs serve the production very well.
Courtney Rackley as Olivia and Patrick Ball as Ethan work very well together as characters trying to find a middle ground in which to communicate, despite the fact that they’ve got an almost immediate chemistry. Rackley’s character makes significant changes during the course of the play, and she provides some very subtle moments. Ball’s character walks a fine line between smolder and burn, which enhances his performance.
I can understand why Sex With Strangers is a top choice of many theatres for production this year, and I’m glad that I’ve been introduced to a promising new (to me) voice in the American theatre. I applaud TheaterWorks and Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero for showcasing the best new American plays and voices, as they have for thirty years. It’ been a most satisfying theatrical journey.
Incidentally, in his pre-show welcome before the opening night performance, Ruggiero announced the TheaterWorks season for 2016-17, which includes the East Coast premiere of Relativity by Mark St. Germain, whose plays are frequently staged by TheaterWorks and Barrington Stage; the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Next to Normal; and two world premieres, one written by Hartford playwright Jacques Lamarre and the other a musical about follk trio Peter Paul and Mary.
TheaterWorks presents “Sex With Strangers” by Laura Eason. Starring Patrick Ball (Ethan) and Courtney Rackley (Olivia). Directed by Rob Ruggiero. Scenic design by Brian Prather. Costume design by Amy Clark. Lighting design by John Lasiter. Sound design by Fitz Patton. Through April 17. TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT. For tickets: 860-527-7838 or www.theaterworkshartford.org
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
