Strangers and Romance - Highly Recommended

These two one-act plays by Barbara Lhota are produced at the Trap Door Theatre, which is in itself an intriguing place to encounter. Set at the back of a narrow alley - after which one crosses a hallway joining two restaurants and enters through a door that looks like it belongs to a storage room - it is the first theater I've encountered where the "directions" page on its website offers extra assistance if you get lost. But it's well worth the trek!

The stage itself is spartan - don't be fooled by the promotional shots of the production, this is theater on a shoestring. And, with that in mind, I lowered my expectations a bit as to the quality of the productions, which proved reasonable for the first play, "Strangers" - but not for the second, "Romance." It is in fact on the strength of "Romance" that I give the evening a "Highly Recommended."

I would still recommend "Strangers," but it is the weaker of the two productions, and they are best presented in the order that I presume director Doug Long chose. In it, Maddie (Misti Patrella) and Madison (Tony Ketcham, in a strong performance) encounter each other through a clever device that Ms. Lhota uses to great advantage, establishing an accelerating pace to angst and discovery that builds nicely to a fine crescendo. The reveals are well-timed, and what (falsely) appears to be a forced performance in the opening scene serves the plot well. The given locale of Boston is purely incidental, and rightly fades from our attention before very long, as the accents of the actors are decidedly mid-Western.

It took a while for the audience to warm up to the humor (in a reasonably full house), which I take to be more of a commentary on the strength of the performances than of the material. The material that we are presented with is difficult, and the use of humor is correct, and eventually allows us to go deeper. The closing is, in my opinion, a little too tidy for the challenges facing the characters, but not so egregiously so that it becomes unbelievable.

With "Romance," we are presented with what seems to be greater maturity all around: in the writing, the acting, and the depth of knowledge with which the playwright faced the issues. Also incidentally set in Boston,  it is Timothy Amos (in the role of Mick) who "gets" the accent and keeps his character well-grounded in the roots of his geography; the only failing of Stacie Barra (as Miriam) is that she does not match his talent there.

The weakest part of the play is in the transition from distance to intimacy, and I suspect that is mainly due to the constraints of time. The performances are impressive, again in particular by Mr. Amos. Ultimately, the resolution is less easy and more believable, with more loose ends - and more possibilities. Ms. Lhota is able to display her talents at humor here as well, conveyed effectively by the cast and appreciated by the audience.

The underlying question in each play - that of managing loss in an intimate relationship - is nicely explored in very different ways by each character. The contrived settings - just before closing at a T stop and in the basement chapel in a church - are easily forgiven and add sufficient color to help paint the pictures that the men and women grapple with.

So, take the time to travel down a narrow alley through a back door into some of the more hidden, but far from uncommon, corners of relationships. It will be an evening well worth the price of admission.