Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The third play of GAMM Theatre’s 40th Anniversary season is “Boys and Girls” by Dennis Kelly. It’s a 2016 one-woman British show that narrates a story of love, marriage, and, eventually, violence. She meets the man of her dreams, and the romance seems destined for greatness. Before long, the couple settles down and buys a house. Their life is filled with passion, success, and the joys of parenthood. They juggle careers; after having two children, Leanne and Danny, they seem to become an ordinary family. But as ambitions grow, things begin to unravel, and matters take an unexpected turn as her career takes an upspring by forming her own film company with Liam, and he goes in the opposite direction by not adapting from selling antique wardrobes to more contemporary ones.
Their idyllic world spirals out of control, and utter darkness descends upon this family. Kelly’s show examines parenthood and the trauma after surprising and violent events take place. The story unfolds with bawdy humor at first, then later becomes a mixture of sobering events, which eventually descends into an electrifying and shocking revelation that brings you to tears at its powerful and devastating impact on this young woman’s life. Director Rachel Walshe elicits a multilayered performance from Donnla Hughes as she examines the many layers of this woman’s psyche. Walshe brings balance between the humorous and lighthearted moments with the extremely sensitive emotional moments to form a truly realized play with great depth. Her blocking of the many scenes is marvelous as the audience realizes this woman is trapped by the memories she shares with the audience. Hughes delivers a brilliant and masterful performance in this 110-minute show that captivates you from start to finish. Be sure to catch this stunning show at GAMM, which runs for only two weeks.
Walshe is assisted in her task by set designer Jessica Hill Kidd, with a chair on a square stage (showing how the woman is trapped in her memories with no way out). Marvelous lighting changes constantly from scene to scene by lighting designer James Horban, sound designer Hunter Spoede, and costume designer David T. Howard. Hughes runs the gamut of emotions in this roller coaster ride of a show from one extreme to another. The story is told in different parts, which examine different aspects of her life. Hughes also becomes the other characters in the show and uses her vocal skills by immersing herself in each of them.
The show opens very jovially and almost in a standup comedy manner with bawdy language. Some of the comic moments include her many sexcapades and, eventually, how they met. It examines their first meeting waiting in line at an airport in Naples where two gorgeous models want to join him in the line. He puts them in place by asking which one will be sleeping with him, which wins the woman’s heart by telling the two models to go to the end of the line. (Hughes’ vocal changes as the two models speak with him are excellently done.) He also makes her believe in herself, which endears him to her later on. The way she wins a job in an important movie firm is another comical scene where she convinces Veronica to hire her over the many other more seasoned applicants there.
The most important segments are the ones between the mother and her two children. She displays the love she has for her children in different scenes in the show. One is when they are younger when Leanne wants to bring mud into the house while Danny spills his food on the floor and on his mother. Later on, when they are a little older, they play a game where Leanne is an apartment owner in NY and wants her mother to be an inspector of it, while Danny’s game is blowing up that building and making his mother a Death Star. These memories seem to sustain their mother. Little by little, the couple grows apart, and he becomes defeated in his woes at his job. She improves her position and social standing in her chosen profession. When things start to go astray with her husband, it mystifies her. The gut-wrenching final scenes occur and bring you to tears as you find out the final outcome of the couple’s relationship and its sad disintegration afterward. He can’t let go of his control over his family. Hughes delivers a tour-de-force performance in each of the segments of this woman’s life. She plays all the characters she mentions, including her children, their father, and many others, making the audience believe the other characters are actually onstage with her. Brava on a job very well done. The closing segment of the show tugs on your heartstrings and wins her a well-deserved standing ovation. Run, do not walk to the box office before this limited run is completely sold out. To obtain tickets for this show, go to gammtheatre.org or give them a call at the theatre.
GIRLS AND BOYS (2 to 19 January)
GAMM Theatre, 245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI
1(401)723-4266
