Kate’s Dates
Written & Directed by J.D. Ostergaard
Based on the blog by Kate Loftus
Greenhouse Theater Ctr, 2257 N. Lincoln (map)
thru July 14 | tickets: $25 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Engaging world premiere dramatizes real-life blogger’s dating adventures
Waltzing Mechanics presents
Kate’s Dates
Review by Patrick Dyer
Ever since the internet changed the way we live, people have found a way to express their lives for everyone to see through the use of blogging. It can either be embarrassing or entertaining. Fortunately, Waltzing Mechanics’ stage adaptation of Kate Loftus’ personal blog is, for the most part, entertaining (if a bit slow at times). It may sound strange: a stage adaptation of a blog site. And while I did seem a little hesitant to the idea at first, Kate’s Dates still makes a smooth transition from the computer screen to the stage with plenty of laughs and insight into that most confounding of things: dating.
The play is a series of vignettes by director J.D. Ostergaard based on the blog of real-life Kate Loftus about her various experiences of dating an even greater variety of men. Narrated by the Kate of the present day – Present Kate (Neala Barron) – we see the Kate of the past – Past Kate (Elise Spoerlein) – interact with her many dates (17 in total, all played by Spenser Davis), including the only single man at a friend’s wedding, the best man at another wedding, her neurotic co-worker, the “bad boy” from high school she reunited with via Facebook, and an obsessive Dodgers fan. Almost all of them are failures until she meets Brian, the one who has “strong feelings for her” but doesn’t know how to tell her his true feelings. In between each vignette, we have a character called the Docent (Ashley Alvarez) who gives the audience a “general rule of dating,” where she offers insightful dating advice.
Ostergaard’s script is both funny and insightful, even if it can have a slight TV-sitcom feel to it. He makes up for it, however, by keeping Ms. Loftus’s style and attitude in the dialog and situations. Matters are also helped thanks to Ostergaard giving the show a consistent tone without over-stepping its bounds. Narration can be tricky to feel and sound natural, but Ostergaard gives plenty of personality to Present Kate and even to the Docent. It would be easy to fall into the trap of making Alvarez’s character just spout the “lesson” of the evening, but Ostergaard allows the other characters to interact with her, giving her a bit more character and activity. The stories are overall entertaining and uncomfortable (in a good way), though towards the end the last couple of stories lose a bit of steam. However, Ostergaard includes a rather touching finale with Kate and Brian when they finally express their true feelings for each other. (They’re now engaged, by the way: during the final preview performance the real Brian hopped up on stage during the final bows and proposed to the real Kate – see video below!)
The set design, by Kaitlyn Grissom, deserves some recognition because, while this is a minimalistic show, Grissom doesn’t resort to just having a bunch of unimaginative folding chairs or black boxes scattered about. Instead, we get a creative display with colorful portable set pieces, props like a steering wheel and mustache hanging on coatracks on the side walls, and even four corner-pieces center stage hanging from above by string to indicate room space. This inventive design allows Ostergaard’s already fluid staging to breathe and move quickly throughout the space both onstage and in the audience. The string would sometimes get in the actors’ ways, but for the most part they move through this place with ease and quickness.
With a lesser cast, Kate’s Dates would leave less of an impression, but the cast is clearly having fun here, and are all passionate about the material, which is a huge plus. Barron manages to make her role as Present Kate/Narrator very natural, staying engaged with what’s going on in front of her even if she doesn’t have an active part in the stories. Spoerlein brings out the spunkiness and vulnerability of Kate as well as never straying too far from Barron’s interpretation as her character becomes Barron’s. As the Docent, Alvarez’s “general rules for dating” become not pretentious preaching from a one-note character but a real person telling you this information as if for the first time. She’s energized in her delivery without ever taking the play away from the Kates. Davis has the hardest job of the entire evening by playing all seventeen men in Kate’s life, and he pulls it off with loads of humor and personality to match. A couple of his characterizations can be a little too similar, but he manages to get most of the night’s laughs.
Kate’s Dates isn’t meant to be incredibly powerful or deep, but rather a friendly reminder of why dating is such an important part of the human experience. It highlights the need for connection and how being with someone else can teach us about not only ourselves but how to overcome the walls we build between ourselves and others. And while that may not be the most original theme to explore, Kate’s Dates is all about the execution, unique situations, and its engaging cast members.
Rating: ★★★
Kate’s Dates continues through July 14th at Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays 5pm. Tickets are $25, and are available by phone (773-404-7336) or online through GreenHouseTheater.org (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at WaltzingMechanics.org. (Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission)
artists
cast
Neala Barron (Present Kate), Elise Spoerlein (Past Kate), Spenser Davis (The Dates), Ashley Alvarez (The Docent)
behind the scenes
J.D. Ostergaard (director), Zack Florent (assistant director), Alyson Kulin (stage manager), Tina Frey (production manager), Tyler Smith (dramaturg), Kaitlyn Grissom (scenic design), Rachel S. Parent (costumes, props), Robert P. Lloyd (sound design)
Per Facebook: “So, tonight following our performance of Kate’s Dates, the real Brian hopped up on stage and proposed before the entire audience to the real Kate!! (She said yes!)”
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