Playwright and director Michael Quinn wears two hats in this production about love and whether it will last. Harold (Joseph Basquill) and Mary (Hadley Durkee) first met briefly and unmemorably in high school. Now they are in their sophomore year in college and meet again. She feels out of step with her peers and plans a career as a poet, while he’s a footloose kind of guy thinking of going into computer programming. Their lengthy discussion about the world in general – perhaps greased by a little alcohol and pot – leads to their accidentally falling into bed together – for one night.
Now two years have passed, and Mary, the naïve, shy little girl of 20, has grown up with a vengeance. She is pursuing her poetry with passion, and her casual torn jeans and intellectualized arty statements show that now she is clearly in sync with her peers. Or is she? Why has the assured Harold texted her after two years of silence to arrange another meeting? Where in their carefully crafted personae have Harold and Mary hidden themselves?
Author Quinn carefully uncovers some of the pragmatic consequences and pitfalls of today’s dating society. GET IT TOGETHER is a play which will resonate with today’s young adults. Despite being set in the (relatively near) past, the questions it raises are issues facing today’s dating couples. Where does sex fit into dating? How will we know when attraction might turn into love? Can there be genuine intimacy in dating couples? What about those facades that we put up to avoid being hurt while searching for “the one?” And what happens when the initial connection is gone? Is there a “right” way to end it?
Quinn does a creditable job of taking one couple and digging into their interpersonal relationship, level of communication, and consequent perks and dilemmas. Basquill and Durkee are perfectly cast at the young couple who must navigate the dating game; both project multi-dimensional characters with believability. Kudos to production designer Olivia Meredith, who turns a bedroom into a universe with the aid of lighting designer Hayden Kirschbaum and sound designer Bailee Herrera. However, in the case of the current production, perhaps less would be more. The play was overlong and became repetitive as it steamed along. At the same time, Quinn managed to inject humor into his compassionate tale of two lovers who probably don’t live happily ever after. This is definitely a show for the young – and perhaps the young-at-heart.
GET IT TOGETHER runs through August 7, 2022, with performance for two weekends: at 8 p.m. on Fridays (7/29 and 8/5) and Saturdays (7/30 and 8/6) and at 2 p.m. on Sundays (7/31 and 8/7). The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046. Tickets range from $25 to $45. For information and reservations, go online.
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