Review: Annie Henk Gives Virtuosic Performance in Portland Stage's BAD DATES

Portland Stage scores a hit with Theresa Rebeck's one-character comedy, BAD DATES, featuring a vibrant, funny, and poignant virtuosic performance by Annie Henk. Directed by Jade King Carroll, this one hundred-minute play takes a sympathetic look at the life of a single mom, Hayley, and her all-too-real attempts to make a living for herself and her daughter Vera and a romantic life for herself.

Playwright Rebeck has an unerring sense of contemporary dialogue and the uncanny ability to combine wit with pathos. The play is divided into a series of monologues about each of the "bad" dates Hayley experiences; Hayley's search for "Mr. Right" is played against a subtle background of the intrigues and intricacies of her professional life running a chic New York restaurant, owned by members of the Romanian Mafia. Ultimately, complications bring Hayley's personal and professional lives together in a serendipitous close to the comedy.

Jade King Carroll keeps the pace almost breathlessly brisk, and she and Annie Henk, as the protagonist, find infinite variety in the character and her circumstances. There is not a single moment of ennui, despite the predictability and repetition of some of the events. Henk exudes a dynamic presence as she creates a portrait of tough, yet vulnerable, street-wise, resilient woman who manages to survive with her own brand of determination and dreams.

Rodrigo Munoz's costumes are characters in and of themselves in this story, as Hayley dons an almost nonstop series of outfits for each of her dates. Munoz captures the colorful, quirky nature of the heroine and her fashion style. So, too, does Anita Stewart's unit set, which consists of an attractive bedroom, complete with a well-stocked closet and countless shoe boxes as set dressing, add to the ambiance and provide plenty of stage business for the actress. Scout Hough's lighting adds a warm, interior glow, and Charles Coes' sound design offers some extended musical transitions that keep the energy and flow of the piece.

The intimacy of a play like BAD DATES works extremely well in Portland Stage's intimate space, and the company has been fortunate to be able to avail itself of small-cast works to present during the pandemic. Despite its small scale as a play, BAD DATES makes a big impact on the audience through its vitality of its star and the appeal of its production values.

Photos courtesy of Portland Stage, Mical Huston, photographer

BAD DATES ran from 4/18/21 - 5/2/21 on stage and streams from from at Portland Stage from 4/28/21 - 5/16/21 www.portlandstage.org 207-774-0465

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