Review: FIFTH DATE at Nu Sass Theatre

Dating is a whole different beast these days, fueled by phone apps, texts, Google checks, reality shows and who knows what else. It makes the goings on in the Nu Sass Theatre’s new production “Fifth Date” look positively quaint.

Here’s a scenario where the daters are still quite nervous even though they’ve supposedly been on four different dates. There are no cell phones, but landlines rule with incoming messages blaring for all the world to hear. Men wear ties. Compact discs are cool and vinyl records seem old fashioned relics held onto for mere nostalgia. Worst of all, men who seem too polite, whose apartments are too clean and who might like to listen to Cher are heavily suspected of being gay.

“Fifth Date” may be a world premiere by Lori Boyd, but it clearly represents a period at least 30 years ago (They talk of the ‘Skins and Joe Gibbs, the head coach of Washington’s NFL team from 1981 to 1992 and again from 2004 to 2007, though the ‘Skins ball up on a shelf is a basketball and not a football).

The play’s main conceit is that the couple in question (Rebecca Ellis and Steve Lebens) are constantly coached and often berated in real time by their brash, often coarse alter egos (Aubri O’Connor and Terry Heffernan), who stand behind them the whole time, take notes and egg them on to romantic conquest.

They’re rather like the hormone monsters in Netflix’ animated “Big Mouth,” which ran eight seasons before winding up in May. Heffernan in particular has the cartoonish, over-the-top approach of a doomed bug in a Raid commercial or the little green mucus monster in Mucinex ads. 

At their best the two alter egos are reminiscent of the James Corden and Ruth Jones characters in the UK sitcom “Gavin & Stacey” who were equally outspoken in their protection of the best friends in the titular couple. And like those two, these alter egos have a natural revulsion toward each other, giving way to a strong attraction. 

There is some appeal to the central couple trying really hard to keep this flame going, despite everything. Ellis ‘ character is nervous and lacks confidence despite the fact she goes out for auditions every day as an actress. Lebens’ character keeps messing up the smallest tasks (ironing, cooking) and has the bandages to prove it. In a world overstuffed with mediocre romances on Hallmark and elsewhere, there seems little to set this one apart. 

What’s odd is that Nu Sass Productions, according to its online mission statement, professes to “promot[ing]  marginalized genders in all aspects of theater, especially in those roles traditionally dominated by cis-men. We explore how disregarding prescribed genders can change the overall experience for the audience.”

So it’s surprising how much of the humor relies on the “maybe he’s gay” brand of humor that thankfully largely faded out before the turn of the century.

There may be some mystery to Lebens’ approach to his character, but once it’s explained he’s a fifth grade teacher, it all makes perfect sense. Fifth grade teachers do seem to dress and act this way, blending kindness with a kind of self-deprecation.

Dating while your alter ego is shouting in your ear, unseen and unheard by your partner, is no easy task. On stage, it’s tough to get the timing of this comic conceit just right so these interruptions can smoothly serve the plot and the humor. Likely the timing will improve as the run, directed by Lynn Sharp Spears, continues.

Also, the cast could loosen up a bit along the way. When Ellis’ character dramatically flings her falsies out in a moment of full disclosure, their unexpected landing in the salsa bowl provided the biggest laugh on opening night — so they could have taken note of it with an ad lib or at least an arched eyebrow reaction. Rolling with it is the only way such a comedy — or a relationship — has a chance to survive. 

Running time: About 90 minutes, no intermission.

Photo credit: Steve Lebens and Rebecca Ellis in “Fifth Date.” Photo by Cori Fordham.