All Torn Up

I Wanna F#!&ing Tear You Apart – Rivendell Theatre

Rivendell Theatre is giving Morgan Gould’s I Wanna F#!&ing Tear You Apart its Midwest premiere this month. The story centers on Samantha, a self-described fat woman and Leo, her gay best friend and roommate. They have been friends since college. Now roommates in New York, they are trying to jump-start writing careers in between bingeing reality television and fighting over who left an empty soda bottle in the refrigerator.

My concern going in was that it would treat the characters as objects of pity for having their most important relationship not be a romantic one. If you think back to early seasons of Will & Grace, the running joke/serious issue is that Will and Grace are not advancing in their personal lives because of the avatar for a romantic relationship they have with each other. I personally do not subscribe to the idea that everyone is ‘destined’ for a romantic relationship or that the person you are in a romantic relationship with is supposed to be ‘everything’ to you in every way at all times. I think it’s good to have important, close relationships with other people. I think it makes a better, more rounded person who is, therefore, more capable of sustaining a romantic relationship. I can happily report the show does not dismiss their friendship as a mere holding pattern until a ‘real’ relationship comes along. The problem, especially toward the end, is that it fails to hold the characters accountable for their behavior in this important relationship.

The dramatic tension is sparked by the addition of a new friend Leo brings home from work, and how that upsets the equilibrium of Sam and Leo’s relationship. Had the show maintained its focus on how the characters react to the natural transition of a close friendship as young people age into adulthood, it would be a pretty good show. Unfortunately, it ultimately zooms right past that exploration and loses control. The play hits four moments in succession in the last twenty minutes, any one of which could have served as an ending. The first three would have left the characters either growing in this relationship, feeling stuck and not growing in this relationship, or ending this relationship – any one of which would have been a solid, resonant ending. Unfortunately, by pushing to one more climax, which I will not spoil here, the wheels come completely off the cart and it careens to an ending that feels unrealistic and unearned.

Based on the show’s premise, I walked in expecting something akin to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but, as the show progressed, the analogue that came to mind was Grey Gardens. Sam and Leo are barricading themselves from the world, using the easy familiarity of their friendship to protect themselves from a world they know doesn’t like them. I appreciate that the show takes Sam and Leo’s relationship seriously, but it falls short in exploring how that relationship, like any other, grows and changes over time. The friends you make in high school and college, especially if you feel like an outsider, can feel like something not too different from a war buddy. They are the people who knew you at your most awkward and that’s an intimacy that others outside that friendship can have a hard time accessing. That said, there’s a difference between maintaining a friendship forged at a low point in your life and letting yourself and your relationships be perpetually defined by your trauma.

The show, both in the script and in its promotional materials, uses the words ‘fat’ and ‘gay’ frequently to describe Sam and Leo, respectively. I was concerned that the result would be something of a flattening of the characters, but, in the end, the show does a very good job of showing how people outside a certain definition of ‘normal’ or ‘attractive’ would find and rely on each other to navigate the world. The problem is that the show also uses that to paper over behavior – ranging from immature to flatly abusive – that we would readily call out in any other relationship, romantic or otherwise.

My concerns about the script aside, the actors were amazing. Teressa LaGamba as Sam and Robert Quintanilla as Leo both bristled with energy and had chemistry to spare. I absolutely bought their friendship with its fights and its in-jokes and everything in between. A transitional scene which has them lip syncing to a song in a routine clearly honed over many years was charming as all get out. Any problems I had with the story did not extend to my enjoyment of these two very talented actors, both of whom I hope to see again very soon.

I also want to praise the set design. Rivendell made excellent use of a very small space in creating an apartment that felt very real. The layout and small details contributed to the feeling of an actual apartment rather than a “stage” apartment and, despite its small size, it really managed to have depth and provided several areas for the action to occur.

This is an extremely well-produced and gorgeously-acted production of a story that, unfortunately, ultimately left me pretty cold. That said, it wasn’t really until the very end that the problems fully manifested, so the overall evening was still enjoyable. And again, the actors are an absolute delight. In the balance, they make the show worth your time.

Somewhat Recommended

Review by Kevin Curran

Presented February 28 – March 23 by Rivendell Theatre, 5779 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the box office, by calling 773-334-7728, or by visiting www.rivendelltheatre.org.

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