BWW Reviews: Too Much to Think About in Boston Actors Theater's THINKING OF YOU

Boston Playwright's Theatre is dedicated to giving life to new works, specifically those written by Boston playwrights, and it provides excellent opportunities for playwrights to workshop their pieces and get them seen. Their current endeavor is Elizabeth Dupre's Thinking of You, a story about a young designer on a business retreat, dealing with an overwhelming amount of drugs and alcohol, annoying coworkers, and the ghost of her dead brother.

The idea of the piece is great. A young woman is haunted by her brother who passed away years before and now accompanies her throughout her daily activities, which currently include the company retreat with all the coworkers she cannot stand. But unfortunately the story did not end there, which would have provided a concise and interesting piece, but instead, layers and layers of details unfolded and it became overwhelming. There are issues of drug abuse, romance, resentment of Boston sports, impending layoffs, Boston's alcohol abuse, hidden interests, the death of another coworker; the list goes on and on. And as more and more conflicts arose, the further distanced from the action I became.

The writing is clever, filled with relevant cultural references and witticisms; however, I would argue that the piece would work better as a written story than it did as a play. While it was very intelligent, it wasn't necessarily how all people speak, and watching these actors throw out sassy retort after sassy retort without necessarily showing the audience their likable side first, I found myself not really rooting for anyone in particular. And because of the constant level of attitude and spunk, none of the characters reacted strongly enough or appropriately enough to the traumatizing event by which one would usually be affected. Although there were multiple conflicts of grave importance, the stakes were not high.

I think that with a little development, this show could have a nice future. Right now, it kind of straddles the line between realism (with the exception of the ghosts) and some sort of stylized romp, but shares too many qualities to really be considered either. This production would benefit from a little character development to make them more realistic (and I don't just mean the five foot two actress's ability to chug half a handle of whiskey straight from the bottle without any change to her demeanor, though that should be addressed), and a bit cutting down of excess plot lines. Because at the heart of it, there is a good piece somewhere in there, and there is clearly enough love from those working on the project to bring it out.

Thinking of You

by Elizabeth Dupre; Director, Danielle Lucas; Set Designer, Jeremy Goodman; Lighting Designer/Web Designer, David Lucas; Company Manager, Vincent Morreale; Graphic Designer, Daniel J Raps; Stage Manager, Samantha MacArthur; Asst Stage Manager/Asst Director, Evan Ochs.

CAST: Drew Linehan, Jennfier Reddish, Damon Singletary, David Lucas, Preston Graveline, Laurie Singletary, Andrew Hicks, Stephen Kyle, Bailey Libby (u/s), Josh Coleman (u/s).

Performances through April 20 by Boston Actors Theater at the Boston Playwright's Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA. Box Office 866-811-4111 or online at bostonactorstheater.com.

Photo Credit: broadwayactorstheater.com

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