Everything
Will Be Different
Theatre Review
by Lindsey Wilson
High school can be a veritable
minefield of abuse, confusion, and soul-crushing rejection. Factor in
a parent’s untimely death, a daughter’s sexual misguidance, and a father’s
inability to communicate and the combination can make for some pretty
depressing play material. But also factor in six phenomenal actors and
a sharp and irreverent script by Mark Schultz and the outcome is surprisingly
stirring and humorous, if not unexpectedly jarring. Everything Will
Be Different, currently running at Soho Rep. and produced by True
Love Productions, is anything but a light night at the theatre; you’ll
emerge from this play with belly aches and battle scars.
The topics that playwright Schultz touches on in Different could
easily slide into the category of just plain uncomfortable: sex, proposed
sexual abuse, imagined sexual abuse, sexual experimentation, and porn.
Oh, and let’s not forget the teenage sex. Thankfully, Schultz and director
Daniel Aukin reign in the unnerving situations and maneuver them around
into vital segments in the teenage life of Charlotte (the astounding Laura
Heisler), the confused daughter at the heart of the story. With her mother’s
recent death still weighing heavily on her daily activities, and her father’s
constant reminders that she will never be pretty like her mother was,
Charlotte envelops herself in the tale of Helen of Troy, believing fiercely
in “the idea that beauty and desire can destroy the world.” Employing
the help of her best friend, Heather (cleverly played by Naomi Aborn),
Charlotte begins to concoct her own versions of “how the story should
go,” each time focusing on bringing down those who have hurt her while
she herself remains beautiful and unruffled.
In the tradition of black comedy, this show revels in its absurd circumstances
while simultaneously making the audience feel slightly on-edge. The conversations
between Charlotte and her father, Harry (played with fantastic loathing
by Christopher McCann), are shocking in their blunt, angry honesty (“I
will ruin you, if I have to, to keep you”), and provide a nice balance
to the bizarre meetings Charlotte has with her guidance counselor concerning
her career goals (Charlotte declares the porn industry to be steady and
reliable, unlike flash-in-the-pan internet corporations).
It is difficult to imagine so many of this show’s fragile nuances falling
on the right side of the tasteful line without the talents of its compelling
cast. Laura Heisler delivers what surely must be an exhausting performance
as Charlotte, diving headfirst into every explosive teenage emotion with
more grit than suppression and allowing the audience to witness the sheer
depths of pain she encounters while trying to cope with her life. Her
aptitude for comedy is played up as well, reveling in the awkwardness
of adolescence and causing waves of laughter with her reactions. Jason
Jurman as Franklin and Reynaldo Valentin as Freddie complicate Charlotte’s
life as her imaginary best friend and imaginary boyfriend without coming
off as complete jerks. Director Daniel Aukin has done a marvelous job
of ensuring that the cast “fits” together, with each actor on the same
wavelength right done to their speech patterns.
As the lights came down on Charlotte’s painful and riotous journey, the
audience actually heaved an audible, collective sigh, as if each member
had been holding their breath for the entire duration of the play. Though
only 110 minutes, Everything Will Be Different feels like reliving
those tragic four years all over again, though this time with the knowledge
that we’ll never be forced to go back again.
Soho Rep with True Love Productions
Everything Will Be Different
Through April 30
Soho Rep, 46 Walker Street
Schedule and Tickets: 212.868.4444
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