REVIEW: 'My First Time' from Actors Bridge

Truth be told I hadn't thought much about my first time until Actors Bridge opened its production of Ken Davenport's off-Broadway phenomenon My First Time. Now it's all I can think about. And what I think is this: any sex is pretty good sex no matter how bad it seems at the time--or in retrospect. Thus, that 1979 episode on the living room floor of my college apartment doesn't seem so fraught with horror anymore.

Thanks to director Jessika Malone and her cast of talented actors, you'll find oh-so-much to identify with and relate to in Nashville's own version of My First Time, onstage at Darkhorse Theatre through this Saturday night. It's a funny, poignant, laugh-out-loud hour that flies by as Malone's six thespians relate some of the dozens of tales sampled in Davenport's script. Gleaned from the thousands of responses to the First Time website (some 40,000 responses, in fact) that was launched in 1998 during those halcyon pre-blogging, pre-social networking days when posting something online could still be kind of anonymous and somewhat safer than it is now.

Seamlessly and deftly, the six actors move from one "character" to another, relating real-life tales (or what is perceived to be "real-life" by their writers) that effectively progress from titillating to cringe-worthy to hilarious within the same sentence. And that, perhaps is why My First Time works so well onstage: it's imminently relatable and accessible. Thankfully, you're sitting in a darkened theatre so your fidgeting during the more true-to-life moments might go unnoticed by those sitting around you.

While many of the memories are joyfully funny and only slightly unnerving, there are other more dramatic stories told that are poignant and borderline upsetting, particularly a section that revolves around date-rape and oNe Young woman's tale of an incestuous assignation with her leukemia-stricken brother. Yet that is exactly the reaction any discussion of sex should elicit and that, in turn, proves how provocative and unsettling such a discussion can be. Trust me, you'll have a lot to think about upon leaving the theatre.

It's easy to see why My First Time is such a success off-Broadway; the subject is universal, we live in a largely voyeuristic society and, frankly, we like knowing our sex lives aren't that weird. Thanks to the very clever idea of asking audience members to fill out cards when they enter the theatre-and then using their answers as part of the onstage presentation-the audience becomes even more intimately involved in the proceedings, taking a sense of ownership, if you will, in the production. My First Time is more organic as a result and each performance can take on its own personality and tone. Clearly, Actors Bridge could establish its own cottage industry of Nashville-themed My First Times for years to come if they wanted.

Of course, it would help if they could keep the six young actors (Chris Basso, Emily Fleming, Brandon Hirsch, Jackie Johnson, William McKinney and Joy Tilley Perryman) atop those black stools that make up the set. Each of them is charming, attractive and talented, and they display impressive range and versatility, with Fleming, McKinney and Perryman, particularly, giving stand-out performances.

Malone's fluid direction results in a production that has more energy than you might expect and the various couplings and groupings of the actors give the show a forward motion that propels the action artfully and gracefully. Oliver Mauldin's videos, shown prior to curtain, and the projections that deliver statistics both entertaining and informative, become something of a seventh actor and contribute greatly to the overall effect of the piece. B.F. Pierce's lighting design for the intimate Darkhorse Theatre confines is exceptional and Brittany McManus' costumes seem pitch-perfect (you actually think the actors are wearing their own clothes, but I definitely saw a costume designer's practiced eye in how they were dressed.)

--My First Time. By Ken Davenport. Directed by Jessika Malone. Produced by Vali Forrister. Presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble at Darkhorse Theatre, 6410 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville. Through Saturday, October 10. For further details, visit the website at www.actorsbridge.org.

photo by Aron Wright Photography

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