It’s a Whole New World

Smiley

Dating has never been easy for anyone. In the old days, we used to meet possible dates in person, whether at school, the library, at church or maybe in the park. You might even strike up a conversation with someone special at a restaurant or bar. But  it’s a whole new world. Nowadays everyone—straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender—whatever—will search differently for romance. Today, a horny 21st century person will troll the Internet looking for love, or whatever passes for love these days.

 Online dating has become the most popular way to look for and connect with someone special. Straight men explore apps like eharmony, Tinder, Bumble, Dating.com, and many other sites. Gay men, however, look for love (or a hookup) on Grindr, Scruff, Adam4Adam and so many other sites. There are even apps that narrow down the search to specific tastes in a companion. Silverdaddies, Growlr, Jack’d, Daddyhunt, 3Fun, BLK are just a few of the options, but there are so very many others.

Currently playing at Open Space Arts is the Chicago premiere of a most unique play. I’m pretty sure that this will be the first time Midwestern audiences will have seen this production. SMILEY, written by prolific playwright, Guillem Clua, was originally written in his native Spanish. As such, the play is set in Clua’s hometown of Barcelona, Spain. This Chicago production was translated into English by Marion Peter-Holt, and is staged by Jack Dugan Carpenter (director of last April’s BREAKING THE CODE). 

Mr. Carpenter makes wise use of the limited space in this intimate, 25-seat storefront venue. In particular, while staging this play he cleverly employs the supporting pillar that obtrusively stands in the middle of the room, rather pretending it doesn’t exist. He also emphasizes all the broad, farcical  elements of Clua’s script, while pushing his two talented actors to stretch their broad, comic muscles. The result is an especially racy, often ridiculously risque, production. The story is essentially a humorous character study about two contemporary gay young men. What initially unites them is their search through a variety of gay dating apps looking for either a hookup or a possible significant other. While the two men at first seem to have nothing in common, they eventually discover that a love connection exists when neither expects it.

Seth Kobs portrays a playful, often extremely loud young man named Alex. The handsome young fella co-owns a gay bar in Barcelona and seems obsessed with working out in some of the  more fashionable gyms. He opens the play with an incredibly wordy 10-minute monologue, that’s actually a voicemail that he’s leaving for someone. The intended party is a guy that Alex met recently and thought was someone special. But the guy has never called back so Alex doesn’t know where he stands. Unfortunately, the phone number that Alex dialed, and where he left the lengthy message, isn’t the man he intended to receive it. So when Bruno (played with wit and whimsy by Ayden Lopez)  calls back and tries to explain to Alex what’s happened, he also ends up leaving another long, long voicemail message. Unbelievably these two mismatched mates do eventually meet up in person, which is when the play finally takes off. 

Guillem Clua’s comedy of contemporary manners is just that: an interesting and intense look at how the fashion of dating, especially gay dating, has evolved in the Internet Era. Scrolling through the various available apps, searching for someone who is nearby, examining his photograph and then scoping out the details of that person’s profile, is how new relationships begin in the 21st century. No longer do men first meet in person and then go on a series of dates, in order to get to know each other. Everything starts out electronically. One performs his online research first before ever actually coming face to face with his intended. And only then does a relationship commence. As the playwright shows us in this pleasantly amusing comedy, it’s a whole new world.        

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented June 5-21 by Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the door or by going to their website, www.openspacearts.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com 

Photos by Abbas Tayebali