BWW Reviews: LICKING BATTERIES is a Terrible Title for a Thoughtful Drama

Human connections are tricky things. Whether it's a family relationship, a close friendship, or a romantic pairing, we relate to others in very complex ways. Science tries to understand our brains and our psychology, but the mysteries remain. (I, for one, would just as soon they remain mysterious. What would be the point of theater?) In Licking Batteries, electricity is both literal (in the use of electroshock therapy to treat mental illness) and metaphoric (in the sparks between people), and it gets used in a multitude of ways to tell an engrossing story.

Playwright Ellen Margolis introduces us to Lucy as a young girl, fascinated with fireflies to the point of swallowing them, wondering where exactly her mother is going. Her mother is off to spend a long period of time in a mental hospital receiving electroshock. Lucy grows up and goes off to college, where she finds herself trying to figure out the electrical currents in the brain. Her roommate, Clare, has her own mental health issues, but she and Lucy become fast friends. Lucy also meets Mark, a handsome undergrad who knows nothing about science but feels an instant connection with her.

The play is constructed as a collage of scenes; we watch Lucy become more and more obsessive about her experiments, which complicates her relationships with Clare and Mark, while we also watch her mother go through the hell of treatment and the fog of recovery. This description sounds dry, but there's a lot of humor in the play. Lucy is quirky and smart, and her reactions to the people around her are witty. The playwright has a sly sense of humor and brings an absurd edge to some of the scenes, which keeps things from becoming too heavy.

The cast helps immensely. Rachel Rosenfeld is amazing as Lucy, changing ages as quickly as she changes her costume, conveying Lucy's intelligence but opening up to show us the character's wounded heart. She's especially good when the character is silent; watching her listen to the other actors is a lesson in concentration.

Rebecca Toland brings heart and nerve to Louise, the mother, as she bounces from confusion to fear to compassion. Summer Olsson is funny as Clare, walking into the play with a brilliant, manic monologue and a wild sense of humor, though the character gets lost in the shuffle later on. Alex Kirby is terrific as Mark, who starts out filled with cute banter and a great smile, but turns out to have more depth and compassion than expected. His anguish when Lucy starts to disappear on him is heartbreaking.

The cast is rounded out by David Knell, who plays Lucy's quiet, compassionate father with simple grace. He also plays Louise's nerdy doctor, an amorous Italian, and a suicidal old man, and brings different voices, body language, and attitudes to each. It's a nice touch to have all four played by the same actor.

Director Ryan Reilly does a wonderful job keeping the play focused and entertaining. There are a lot of short scenes, and the actors have been choreographed down to the smallest detail, moving the scenery and rearranging the furniture in a trice. The play calls for some scenic effects that might be beyond a small theater in a tiny space, but Reilly and his designers (especially scenic/properties designer Tal Sanders) have worked miracles. In particular, Lucy's swim in the ocean is brilliantly staged.

Licking Batteries is an awful title, but it conveys the humor of the play. The humanity, however, is what you'll connect with if you see the play. It moved me to tears.

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