BOISE
At the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place. Through July 18. SmartTix, (212) 868-4444.
‘BOISE” may call itself a comedy, but this unpleasant and implausible play about sexual dysfunction eventually topples over into madness.
Here, instead of humor, is playwright David Folwell’s grim gallery of oddballs.
The hero is Stewart, a dull guy we see at his office computer and in his bedroom. In the office he flirts with Tara, a seductive woman from Human Resources. They have drinks and discuss Bertrand Russell, but he doesn’t have sex with her. Eventually, he introduces her to his friend Owen, a professional ladies’ man.
To Stewart’s shock and surprise, Tara and Owen fall deeply in love.
Meanwhile, Stewart’s wife, Val, is getting disgusted with him. She tracks him down at a bar near his office, where she perhaps begins an affair with a stranger. Meanwhile, Stewart’s sister, Jackie, runs through a series of dominating partners, all of whom she finds insufficiently sexy.
By now you may be wondering what this has to do with Boise. Well, that’s the remote place in which Stewart imagines he’ll find sexual happiness at last – whether it’s with his wife, his office mate, or even his sister.
Rob Bundy ploddingly directs a fairly competent cast. Christopher Burns is saddled with the weirdly repellent role of Stewart, while Lucia Brawley has some pizzazz as the flirtatious Tara. Tasha Lawrence shows some dark humor as sister Jackie. But the play itself leaves a bad taste in the mouth.