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In a plain old cabin by the side of a lake in Wisconsin, a silent living room awaits. There’s a chair, a footstool, a couch with some blankets; a rug, a coffee table, an end table with an old-fashioned radio; some knickknacks and a pair of antlers on the walls. And that’s all there is—until four friends arrive and fill it up with their laughter and tears, their joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears.
Friendship, Frustration, and Feelings
The energy among Kelly (Alice Wu), Emilie (Cayla Jones), and Cass (Reagan James) is that of folks who have known each other forever, complete with inside jokes, comfortable camaraderie, and old conflicts healed over (and some maybe not so healed). The unfamiliar factor in the mix is Cass’s new girlfriend Jessica (Ashley Yates), whose added presence on the annual girls’ trip and whose public displays of affection with Cass are getting under Emilie’s skin, leaving Kelly to try to keep the peace and keep things light.
It’s a fragile equilibrium that playwright Cat McKay’s prizewinning script explores with tenderness and humor both goofy and raunchy. As the evening goes on and a thunderstorm rages outside, the women settle into their AirBnB, share stories, and expose buried feelings. They goof around, play drinking games, and prank each other with an ax the cabin’s owners left lying around. They talk about the jobs they endure, their luck (and lack thereof) on the queer dating scene, their parents’ varying levels of support and understanding. The way director Christina Casano keeps the laughs coming and the tension simmering, one could almost forget the radio’s earlier passing mention of a spree killer on the loose…
Chekhov’s Gun and McKay’s Ax
…until a simple round of truth or dare leaves one of the friends vanished, and the grown-up slumber party vibes are turned violently inside out. The sense of peacefulness and freedom that comes from a weekend in the woods with friends, far from the pressures of everyday life in wider society, transforms into one of isolation and panic. Where did she go? Is she just playing another practical joke, or is she in danger? Should they stay and wait, or head out and look for her? And, perhaps inevitably: who is worried about her the most?
Plaid as Hell turns on a dime from dramedy to suspenseful, sometimes violent horror, but McKay and the cast handle the transition with care and skill, in this reviewer’s opinion. The actors inhabit their characters so well that they feel not just relatable but familiar, real, little quirks and mannerisms fleshing out their identities and relationships. The intimate theater, thrust stage, and Erin Gautille’s splendidly subtle scenic design let us feel right there in the room. When they laugh, the laughter is contagious; when they are in danger—whether from the outside threat or from each other—the fear and anxiety are palpable.
Babes With Blades Pushes Buttons, Boundaries
It’s common these days to ask whether a given show passes the Bechdel Test, a rule of thumb for female representation in fiction conceived by Nicole Wallace and popularized by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The test has three requirements: “One, it has to have at least two women in it, who, two, talk to each other about, three, something besides a man.” Needless to say, the interactions of Cass, Emilie, Jessica, and Kelly pass with flying colors.
Although passing the Bechdel Test sets Plaid as Hell apart from the pack, it’s not all that makes this story special, in this writer’s view. As these four queer women navigate their own flawed, complicated, just plain human dynamics; they reveal four distinct histories, four distinct perspectives. In doing so, they touch—now obliquely, now explicitly, always authentically—on matters silly and serious, personal and political, mundane and life-changing. For some viewers, this could be like seeing themselves up on stage; for others, like nothing they’ve ever experienced, seen, or imagined. The remarkable thing is that Plaid as Hell is just as fun, just as thrilling, just as thought-provoking regardless of which camp one falls in.
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CAST:
Reagan James (she/her/hers,Cass)
Cayla Jones (she/her/hers, Emilie)
Ashley Yates (she/her/hers, Jessica)
Alice Wu (she/her/hers, Kelly)
Alexandra Alontaga (they/them/theirs//she/her/hers, US Kelly)
Kate Lass (she/her/hers, US Cass)
Aleta Soron (she/her/hers, US Jessica)
Liv Wilson (she/her/hers, US Emilie)
CREATIVE TEAM:
Cat McKay (she/her/hers, playwright)
Christina Casano (she/her/hers, director)
Line Bower (they/them/theirs, technical director)
Hannah Foerschler (she/her/hers, sound design)
Erin Gautille (she/her/hers, scenic design)
Roxie Kooi (she/her/hers, stage manager)
Kate Lass (she/her/hers, asst. fight director/asst. intimacy director)
Tab Mocherman (they/them/theirs, COVID compliance officer)
Jennifer Mohr (she/her/hers, costume design)
Faith Roush (she/her/hers, production manager)
Maureen Yasko (she/her/hers, fight and intimacy director)
WHEN:
Thru November 19, 2022
Select Performances Streamed
Sundays - 3 pm
Wednesdays - 8 pm
Thursdays - 8 pm
Fridays - 8 pm
Saturdays - 8 pm
WHERE:
The Factory Theater
1623 W. Howard St.
Chicago
TICKETS:
$20+
For more information and tickets visit the Babes With Blades Theatre website.
Photos: Joe Mazza/brave lux
Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago.
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About the Author: Harold Jaffe
Harold Jaffe is a poet, playwright, freelance greeting card designer, and aspiring librarian. He earned a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Olin College and studied poetry at Wellesley College under Frank Bidart and Alison Hickey. Since returning to Chicago, Harold has worked with Oracle Productions, Cave Painting Theater Company, the Old World Theatre Company, and Locked Into Vacancy Entertainment. He lives in Chicago with his wife Liana and their cat Paloma.
