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Go Get Wired
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Mel Dupont
April 19th 2009 |
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Mike sends Rachel a chilling death threat. Will he kill her IRL, or is he merely voicing a sick fantasy?
 The Wire Game starts off with this question, then moves in quick bites from scene to scene, injecting the audience immediately into the online lives of Mike's high-school chum Arthur (the identity thief), Arthur's lonely brother Ralph, Ralph's lover, serial gamers Ginger and Clyde, suicidal blogger Haley, Jack (Mike's sorrowful father), and Jack's chat companion Becky. The 90-minute drama takes place largely in chat rooms, which have become such realistic environments to the pairs and trios, that they imagine they are interacting face-to-face: sneaking up on one another, flirting, even attacking each other.
This is where the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur for the audience. Several times, I found myself wondering, "Is this violence really happening, or is it just something one of them wishes would happen?" Writer and Director Lenny Schwartz (Time Thirteen, The December Rabbi, The Scarecrow) purposely obscures this line, keeping us guessing how much of what we see is "real" within the context of the play. Is Ralph's girlfriend really a dominatrix, or is that just who she pretends to be when she's at the keyboard? Is Rachel telling the truth when she says... anything? When Mike attacks Arthur - when there is blood - is that "real"?
Undeniably real is the talent the cast of The Wire Game brought to the opening-night performance. Lead actor Sean Carufel (Mike) convinced me completely, at every turn - from knife-wielding psychosis, to stilted attempts to reconnect with his father, to proposing marriage (only to have his proposal rejected). Kelly McCabe (Rachel) starts off sultry and self-assured, and ends up betrayed and afraid - all in keeping with her character. Don Carrara's performance as Arthur is suitably physical, alarming, and repulsive - and, towards the end, surprisingly sympathetic. Kevin Killavey (Ralph) plays the concerned brother / borderline online-addict well, and his pain becomes jarringly real during a fluid, choreographed scene in the final act. Sarah McLean (Julie) gives a realistic performance of an unhappy housewife and mother who yearns to start again with someone new, but struggles with the thought of leaving her family. With his sensitive portrayal of Jack, Dan Brown cultivates audience sympathy and reminds us of our own mortality. Meg Kane (Becky) virtually stands in for the audience as she provides comfort to Jack, and she surprises us when she reveals why she is so nice to him. Vanessa Blanchette deserves kudos for playing a very young Ginger - her voice and posture are spot-on, making her seem no more than eight years old. Jim Foley (Clyde) embraces his loveable, geeky, lonely online-gamer persona, and invites the audience to do the same. Stephanie Anna Carey (Haley) evokes sympathy as a disturbed, broken, suicidal pyromaniac. I would have liked to see more of Tara Gray's talent - as the strict Net Nanny, she was an energetic blur who comedically chased others offstage. The stage itself is a sparse construction, painted black and framed to look like a giant computer screen. The unfurnished stage lends itself to quick scene changes, and helps create a hollow, lonely void around the characters as they grasp for connection.
It amazes me what a great show Producer Jim Belanger and the Daydream Theatre Company (including Caitlin Murphy, Jen Hayden, and Sara Schwartz) created in only eight weeks, and with such a tiny budget (rumored to be $200). The Bell Street Chapel is a comfortable venue - its acoustics work in the actors' favor, and naturally carry music played before and during the show by talented pianist Jessica Marie Cowan. I am glad I went, and I plan to go one more time before the run is over.
The Wire Game plays at 8 PM on April 23th, 24th, 25th, and 30th, and on May 1st and 2nd, at the Bell Street Chapel, 5 Bell Street, Providence. General admission is $10, students and seniors $5. |
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