An attention-craving-socialite meeting with her sarcastically, explosively hilarious and dimwitted friends is where “Reading Under the Influence” lies.
Book clubs have always sounded boring- until now.
Tony Glazer’s comedy “Reading Under the Influence” brings us into the world of a high society women’s book club. The creator of the book club, Jocelyn, played by Joanna Bayless, tries to break the big news to the women: She’s in the process of selling the book club to reality television. Devastated, the other members fire heated remarks at her. They accuse her of trying to sell them, and feel betrayed about what they see as her sinister motives. As she defends herself, snarly comments turn into more personal remarks. Megan, played by Barbara Walsh, is even questioned about having converted to Judaism, which sparks all the women up into heated verbal battle.
When Kerry, played by Ashley Austin Morris, drops the bisexual bomb about herself, Jocelyn’s true colors fly as she openly puts Kerry down for what she is. Sara, played by Summer Crockett Moore, defends her, as does Megan.
The first act summoned laughter as the characters’ feelings at the thought of having their precious book club sold unfolded in thunderous insults peppered with comic relief of the extreme kind coming from dimwitted Kerry. The character’s introduction to the stage felt very smooth and natural, and it resulted in an immediate and unquestioning acceptance of them as real and not scripted.
The second act, however, exploded into a tarred and feathered fiasco of women screaming and shouting, insulting and accusing, all in front of the potential reality television production’s representatives, who were played by Maria-Christina Oliveras and Jeremy Webb. What these two saw was just what they wanted: Reality TV at it’s grimiest.
Throughout the play, the women poured the wine to the brim every time their glasses seemed low. That was responsible for the comic relief brought to tense moments between characters, in addition to the book they were discussing, which poor Kerry didn’t seem to get at all. Kerry’s intelligence level, although quite funny at some points, seemed to unnerving at other points. It did not seem possible, at some points, that she could have really been part of a book club.
Wendy C. Goldberg did a great job with the direction. The characters were always in perfect view, audible, and believable. The interactions between characters in the first act seemed more normal- whatever that is- than in the second act, as the second act overflowed with all kinds of crazy surprises and actions. The relationships between the women take different turns, as does their attitudes about having the book club sold. This may have confused some, but in the broad view, it came together to successfully show how a normal book club that takes a turn for the wild.
The set design was simple, yet classy- an ivory-colored, polished look set in Jocelyn’s living room. The wine was set on a table to the left, making an immediate impression of it’s role at the book club meetings. The glassware was tall and shiny, and possibly a reflection of how these women saw themselves, with a constant need of having to be filled up- filled up with friendship, attention, stirring thoughts, and their very own essence.
All this considered, this is one book club meeting you won’t want to miss.
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