GETTING THE HANG OF RELATIONSHIPS

Theater Review

by Kestryl Lowrey

published February 22, 2008

Looking Up

now playing Off Off Broadway at Theater for the New City

through March 2

Remember that romantic comedy you saw a few years back?  You know, the one with the pushy girlfriend and the boyfriend who commits against his better judgment?  And how she gets him to try something new, but he gets her to settle down a bit by the end?  Yeah, that one.

Looking Up elevates the standard romantic comedy plot, and I mean that in a literal sense.  As a love story told on trapeze, half of the cast spends more time in the air than on the ground.  The plot is nothing new, but the relationship between the circus girl and the everyday guy gives the opportunity for some witty banter and amusing realizations.  And, hey, it's hard not to stay engaged when a character gives most of her monologues while shifting through a series of tricks several yards above the stage floor.

Playwright Carla Cantrelle isn't saying anything that hasn't been said before, but at least she's saying it well.  The repeated references to getting where you want to be by 'looking up' instead of 'looking down' get a bit tedious (okay, we get the title, moving on,) but Bryant Mason and Cantrelle play their characters with such charm and affection that it's difficult to get too annoyed with the occasional weakness of the script. I found myself caring about what became of Jack (Mason) and Wendy (Cantrelle), even as I accurately predicted every turn and twist of the plot.

Looking Up won't really make you think, but it will probably make you smile.  I'm not sure that romantic comedies have a higher purpose than that.

kestryl.lowrey @ stageandcinema.com