An Octopus Love Story

Photo/Mike Klar

There's something fishy about the set-up and resolution of An Octopus Love Story, but the questions it raises about gender identity are a real winner. For me, the show works best when active: the interrogative scene between a smarmy reporter and the public activists (Danny and Jane, who are both gay, but marrying each other to protest marriage restrictions) is very revealing, and the playful "first date" between Danny and Jane, which climaxes with a lip-sync re-enactment of a classic film, gives us a lot between the lines. But the monologues -- or more accurately, one-sided conversations -- are a lot harder to excuse, especially coupled with Mike Klar's passive direction. Ironically, the choice to make the set look somewhat like a glass-walled fish tank actually makes a lot of the action on stage less transparent: the strain to make the set match the watery anecdotes of the play displaces the action. I'd still recommend it, but watch out for the soggy subplots of Danny and Jane's thinly cut friends.

[Read on] [Also blogged by: Patrick]