A Future Perfect
Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
Playwright: Ken Urban
Director: M. Bevin O’Gara
Set, Cristina Todesco; Costumes, Elisabetta Polito; Lights, Jen Rock; Sound, Nathan Leigh.
SpeakEasy Stage Company
Date closing: Feb. 7, 2015
Subtlety is not playwright Ken Urban’s style. His play “A Future Perfect” has an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink inclination to wrestle with a bunch of themes, all of them nailed down with a directness that leaves little to the imagination.
The first scene sets up comfy enough. Two couples who’ve known each other for years, meet at Max and Claire’s apartment in Brooklyn for dinner. Tranquility lasts two minutes. When Elena asks for water instead of her usual wine, Max joshes, “What, are you pregnant?” An awkward pause. Alex, trying to come to grips with becoming a father, fumbles around for a direct answer. Elena finally says "Yes.”
Brian Hastert, Marianna Bassham, Chelsea Diehl, Nael Nacer in world premier of "A Future Perfect"
A cheer, a toast, and general merriment usually ensue after such an announcement. Claire is clearly agitated. She manages to ask, “What about your job?" a seemingly insensitive response rather than the expected hugs and euphoria.
Max is clearly surprised but manages to offer a toast after what seems like an eternity of uncomfortable attempts. The party ends prematurely. Claire and Max’s muted response has clearly generated a rift between the couples. The decision to have a child? Max and 38 year-old Claire have let that slide for years, holding on to a sense of youth for which they no longer qualify and career paths, especially for Claire, ascending the ladder in a high-powered advertising firm and the major bread winner.
The next 90 minutes are loaded with dialogue that fills in backstories, probes the stability and foundation of both marriages, and how two couples can be so close to each other and communicate so little. The play doesn’t offer any new insights into classic relationship impasses. The candor from each character, familiar to us from TV sitcoms, is often brutal and funny.
The dialogue treads its way through questions like how do you define yourself, what do you value, how do you make decisions (job, family, having a baby) that will change your life forever, what/who do you leave behind as you become older are considered head on. For Max and Claire, how do you nurture a relationship as you mature into your late thirties.
The play’s central questions are not new but are presented with enough dramatic force to have repercussions for us in the audoience. Decisions about career vs. family, maintaining friendships as we get older, and acknowledging that we're getting older, are familiar to any who’ve navigated the same shoals.That would be just about all of us.
Writer Ken Urban actually popped the “What…are you pregnant?” question as a joke to the wife of a friend a few years ago when she refused a glass of wine at a party. When she surprised everyone with a "Yes," the group celebrated. And another woman said, "I'm pregnant, too!"
Urban realized that their lives were changing. “A Future Perfect” was his way of turning over the questions that surfaced as he felt himself and his friends in transition, growing older.
It’s fun watching Marianna Bassham plumb the conflicting aspects of Claire’s character. Smart, commanding, and competitive, Claire defines herself (and even her friends and husband) by job title. She values prestige and hides her need for love under an emotional core wrapped in chain mail.
Brian Hastert as her husband Max is Claire’s opposite and soul mate. An idealist, he has a job that appeals to his sensibilities but realizes his career path has hit a plateau. He’s willing to risk his tenuous position as a poorly paid writer for PBS when he pushes to have an anti-war message included in a puppet show he’s created. Developing a partner who meshes with Claire’s strong personality and seems credible is no easy job. Hastert is up to the task.
Nael Nacer and Chelsea Diehl as Alex and Elena are largely foils against which Claire and Max can work out their marriage and ideals. They seem a less likely couple than Max and Claire but hey, who knows what chemistry or circumstance makes a relationship work. And they each bring intensity to their roles.
The play’s final scenes reminded me of the O’Henry tale the Gift of The Magi. Both Claire and Max give up something they prize - and become more committed adults. They just might make it for the long haul.
Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Photo: Craig Bailey
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