• the217
• Movies + TV
• [SIC]

The first thing any audience member will notice upon entering the Station Theatre's small black box space is the simple wooden set for [sic] which is meant to represent a row of apartments along a third floor hallway. The set-up becomes charming as the actors interact with it, running in and out of one another's apartments to complain, elicit sex, and borrow money.

Anyone who appreciates well-written dialogue will enjoy this play immensely. At first, the fast, furious, sometimes nonsensical wordplay created by playwright Melissa James Gibson will leave one thinking "Is this going to be two hours of experimental oddity?" But give this play five minutes and one warms to it with the explanation of the relationships and how the characters all met and how they all despised one another based on pre-obtained information. These characters who are the apartment building's tenants, Theo, Babette, and Frank (Jason McCain, Breelyn Mehrtens and Michael Antony Pierce, respectively), do an excellent job of making everything seem realistic. The actors and script perfectly highlight these characters' fixation on personal relationships and struggling careers as writer, composer, and auctioneer. But as they describe how a mutual hate for their landlord brought them closer, they endear themselves to the audience.

Mehrtens is especially enjoyable as a great storyteller and McCain comes across as that kind of creepy but lovably creative next door neighbor, And Pierce, who plays Frank, is impressive with his mastery of alliterate tongue twisters that will stick in your head like a bad pop radio chorus ("Course you couldn't kiss your cousin 'cause you can't kiss kin.")

The complicated staging is sometimes distracting. In a scene with a fight between Theo and Babette, a constant opening and shutting of the window is more distracting than charming, and the point is lost. But a later exchange where the characters have a childlike discussion about deviant games like "Pick Your Parents," is a fascinating use of set.

This show is, overall, incredible, especially the casting. The dialogue is delivered keenly and prompts hearty laughter. It's never too heavy or metaphoric and is a constant good time.