{"id":126,"date":"2013-07-24T13:53:05","date_gmt":"2013-07-24T13:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/?p=126"},"modified":"2013-10-28T22:16:34","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T22:16:34","slug":"a-gruesome-twist-on-romance-from-azeotrope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/?p=126","title":{"rendered":"The Sunbreak: A \u201cGruesome\u201d Twist on Romance from Azeotrope"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Courtney Meaker
\nT<\/a>he SunBreak<\/p>\n

Romantic comedies don\u2019t really do it for me. Boy meets a girl (or boy meets boy, or girl meets girl). They\u2019re perfect for each other but can\u2019t be together. Trials and tribulations of a ridiculous sort happen (usually involving a large deception one of them can\u2019t see past), while the sarcastic best friend says, \u201cJust get over it.\u201d They do in a cute way. And they skip into the sunset, bubbly and better off having accomplished something over the past hour and a half that leads the audience to believe they will be together for a long time.<\/p>\n

Popcorn eaten, soda drank, we leave feeling nothing more than a stomach ache from the mixture of salt and sugar, never to think about this story ever again. Because we\u2019ve seen it. We\u2019ve seen it so many times we can finish the lines or \u00a0guess the next plot point before the story even hints at it.<\/p>\n

<\/em>Azeotrope\u2019s\u00a0Gruesome Playground Injuries\u00a0<\/em><\/a>(through August 11 at The Little Theatre;tickets<\/a>)\u00a0does not fit the mold. Told moving backward and forward in time the dynamic story unfolds with glimpses at the brief self-destructions of two people who want to fit together from age 8 to 38 but can\u2019t seem to smoosh into a couple without creating more scars.\u00a0With only two actors (Richard Nguyen Sloniker and Amanda Zarr) and a phenomenal script by Rajiv Joseph, director Desdemona Chiang creates a truly compelling night of theatre, ending with the desire to see more of the story.<\/p>\n

Both characters are self-destructive to the point of self-harm, but in tragically different ways. Kayleen is a cutter with a stomach issue (she vomits a lot) and a talent for lusting after or genuinely loving Doug, but unwilling to let herself have him. Doug can\u2019t stop hurting himself in much more creative, but seemingly unintentional ways, always seeking to make Kayleen happy though the two are never dating or a couple, but describe each other as best friends.\u00a0Their betrayals are smart and nuanced emerging slowly, eating at each other years after the incident.<\/p>\n

Sloniker, as the rambunctious Doug \u2014 who can\u2019t exist in the world without marring his body through some form of stupidity (like blowing up his face with a firecracker) \u2014 wields his character with clear force and intensity. His transformation from hyperactive boy with passion for a girl into a man who calms to surrendering his desire for her is utterly captivating.<\/p>\n

But where the hell did Amanda Zarr come from? Los Angeles, according to the program, but I sincerely hope she sticks around. With\u00a0subtlety she delivers a heart-wrenching performance as Kayleen ending in one of the saddest monologues I\u2019ve ever seen about why we do the things we do and why we can\u2019t just let ourselves be happy (we don\u2019t fucking know).<\/p>\n

In The Little Theatre (formerly WET\u2019s space) Deanna Zibello designed a set that morphs through an arrangement of curtains into various hospital-type settings. The choreography of these moments creates a consistently fresh space with only small awkward bumps in the machinery.<\/p>\n

Gruesome Playground Injuries<\/em>\u00a0is another strong piece of theatre from Azeotrope (they produced\u00a0Jesus Hopped the \u2018A\u2019 Train<\/em>\u00a0last year at ACT to wild acclaim). Hopefully, the run will succeed even\u00a0without the marketing of ACT behind it. The talent of Chiang, Sloniker, and Zarr should not be wasted on small houses.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/thesunbreak.com\/2013\/07\/24\/a-gruesome-twist-on-romance-from-azeotrope\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Courtney Meaker The SunBreak Romantic comedies don\u2019t really do it for me. Boy meets a girl (or boy meets boy, or girl meets girl). They\u2019re perfect for each other but can\u2019t be together. Trials and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[12,24,23],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-press","tag-gruesome-playground-injuries","tag-reviews","tag-the-sunbreak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions\/198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.azotheatre.dreamhosters.com\/az\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}