Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap
Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap
By Mark St. Germain
Directed by Johnathan Raffoul
Breaking Ground Productions at
Breakthrough Theatre, Winter Park, FL</strong>
Daddy’s money can solve a lot of problems, but not the sort that infest this young couple on their graduation night. Myst (Allie Novell) has a pop star mama and feels unloved. Grouper (Alex Bridgeman) has a senator for a daddy who only trots him out for photo opps. The two matriculate at a private boarding school for the rich and useless, but it’s not so strict that pot and beer and pregnancy are out of reach. Our couple finds themselves on lovers leap, but the motorcycle they used to get there ran out of gas. Coincidence, or plot point? Their lives may have run out of gas as well; Grouper dreams of moving to Seaside NJ and living a life of grinding poverty while Myst hopes to be a failed singer someday. Are these two made in Jersey for each other? Or will their insecurity and needy personalities drive them together for a life of white trash misery?
There’s a mix of nurture and nature here; both these young people are slightly uncentered and their upbringing has only amplified those difficulties. Ms. Novell seeks sex as a solace; she’s not so much horny as homeless. Grouper (God only knows the horror story leading to THAT prep school nickname) aches for stability which is not something public life offers. Bridgeman slides up and down the trombone of manliness: he sometimes begs, sometimes threatens, and overall seems curiously uninterested in the actuality of sex. He prefers some sort of enforceable commitment, and that’s not in his cards. Should they roll the bike down the hill and get gas, or just take the short cut? While this play has a very short run (a One Week Wonder, if you will) it starts out a bit disjointed but focuses tightly as the second act winds down. While it’s not my favorite story, it IS compelling and revealing.
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