With Jennifer Reddish, Drew Linehan, Preston Graveline, Andrew Hicks, David Lucas and Damon Singletary. Photo Credit: Boston Actors Theater Facebook Page
*** Correction to Review, April 18, 2013: St. John the Divine of Iowa was written by Lyralen Kaye, not by Elizabeth DuPre. Our apologies.***
Written by Elizabeth DuPre
Directed by Danielle Lucas
Boston Actors Theater
Boston Playwright’s Theatre
Boston, MA
April 5th – April 20th, 2013
Boston Actors Theater Facebook Page
Review by Craig Idlebrook
(Boston) Local playwright Elizabeth DuPre is making progress, if her new comedy Thinking of You is any indication. It is a sparse and fairly entertaining sitcom-style take on corporate culture rebellion. While there is little ground broken here, there are funny moments and witty dialogue that show DuPre’s progress as a writer. She backs off from imposing her vision and leaves space for the audience to have fun.
The script begs for a laugh-track. A group of greeting card company employees are stuck at a corporate retreat on an island when tragedy strikes; it causes the slackers in the group to rethink their priorities and subvert the dominant paradigm in a cute 80’s kind of way. There’s also a subplot about ghosts that’s worth a few chuckles.
Some members of the cast do well with the material, especially WGBH personality Andrew Hicks, who takes a break from the earnest world of public radio to introduce us to a manic and lovably cocksure salesman (Steve). Other actors succumb to selling the comedy, which makes their lines so very not funny. Director Danielle Lucas also does the script no favors with her first-act pacing, which gets weighed down with the trudging footfalls of corporate culture. In addition, a sparse set still somehow manages to clutter the stage for the actors, who already seemed weighed down by Lucas’ over-purposeful blocking. But by the second act, the group dynamics congeal and the actors play off each other to better comedic effect.
Despite the hurdles, humor saves the night, and we can’t help but laugh along with this good-natured comedy. You won’t regret going to this comedy, but you won’t remember it the next day either.
