Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

  Jolie Curtsinger and Brent Vimtrup

The bed is central. We sleep on it together, we love each other under its covers, and have some of our most intimate conversations around it. Craig Wright understands this, and sets most of the scenes of Orange Flower Water around a central bed, standing in for several beds in and around the suburb of Pine City, Minnesota.

Directed by Bryn Boice, InProximity Theatre Company’s production of this tense infidelity drama keeps the audience close to the action. Sometimes too close for comfort. The couples in question are David and Cathy Larson, and Brad and Beth Youngquist…and also David and Beth, who have been flirting with each other behind their spouses’ backs for a while. They’ve snuck away to a hotel room for the first time when we meet them. We will see them begin their affair, and watch the corrosive and explosive effect it has on their marriages. It’s intimate and uncomfortable, and a sharp debut for this emerging theater company.

A play like this stands of falls on its performances, and the cast comes through admirably. As the cuckolded Brad, Michael Poignand presents a volatile, self-proclaimed prick who’s been driving his wife away for years, but receives the news of her leaving as a body blow he might not recover from. His shouting match with Beth (Laurie Schaefer), raw and honest, is one of the play’s standout scenes.

On the other side of the stage, Jolie Curtsinger’s Cathy deals with the news in an entirely different way; she’s in charge of their marriage, and she aggressively dictates the terms on which David (Brent Vimtrup) can leave. Not willing to play the victim, she’s a treat to watch as she takes some pleasure at making Beth uncomfortable during a soccer match.

  Laurie Schafer and Michael Poignand

Vintrup initially seems a bit too young for the part of David – a father of three, he still seems too boyish and irresponsible to be a dad. But that boyishness is the key to his personality, whether he’s being playful or petty. And at the end, he delivers a speech that provides a counterpoint to the whole play. After all the heartache he and Beth have caused, for their families and each other, somehow he manages to change the mood of the piece, providing something like a benediction.

Boice’s direction and staging is effective at maintaining a sense of presence of the other cast members throughout. They never say anything, and never react, but they’re sitting just off the edge of the stage. Even if they’re not present in the action, they’re still a force to be grappled with in the minds of the people in the scene, inspiring feelings of guilt or fear.

Similarly, James J. Fenton’s scenic design conveys the presence of the couples’ children. The bedroom is surrounded by a wooden boardwalk and straw on the floor, making it seem like a remote cabin, even in the heart of town. Three empty picture frames adorn the wall on the Larson’s side of the stage, and two frames hang near the Youngquists. Children’s faces could easily fill those frames…but this is a story for grown-ups. The children will find out soon enough.