Sunday, November 14, 2010

What if EDGEWISE?

So we saw the hip hot Edgewise by Eliza Clark at WalkerSpace last night in a co-production by The Play Company and Page 73. Set in a dystopic New Jersey, we follow three teenagers who work the early shift at a fast food restaurant. What follows is a clear picture of the psychological costs of war. After the dust settles, and the burger-and-pot jokes have melted into the air, we watch as the last rags of innocence stripped are from our shivering bones.

Page 73, as always, is up to the challenge. Working with their 2010 Playwriting Fellow, they've put together a whip-smart cast, and in this timely collaboration with the unflinchingly accurate director Trip Cullman, the production sings... and screams and howls. What gets under your skin about this play is how swiftly and artfully the audience is brought in to the world. Did I miss something? Of course the enemy is the one we've suspected all along, and of course Dougal's is still open. What else does one do, but carry on, grow up, and... go back to work?