'Venting' delivers twists and turns with a dose of comedy

How do you deal with your sexual identity when you've been raised as a different gender than your genes would suggest? An original work by Mara Nelson-Greenberg '11, "Venting" is a fearless, gender-bending comedy that strives to recast such heady issues as gender identity and the "nature versus nurture" debate in a new light, with mixed success.

The play opens with a couple entrusting a quack doctor, who suffers from multiple personality disorder, with telling them the gender of their unborn child. Having always wanted a daughter, the mother finds the news that she is about to give birth to a son too much to handle, sending the father fleeing from the room. This leaves her alone with the doctor, Elmer, who conveniently chooses this moment to decide that she is actually having twin boys. Fast-forward 18 years, and the audience finds Miles, one of her sons, struggling to keep any sort of relationship afloat. This problem pales, however, when he discovers that his twin brother Milo has been raised, without the knowledge of Miles or his father, in the basement - as a girl. And don't think the twists stop there.

Reminiscent of Augusten Burroughs' "Running with Scissors," "Venting" presents a tangled web of dysfunction, perhaps best described inadvertently by Milo, the "daughter" living in the basement, when he says that a biology test is about "protons, electrons and hard-ons." He might as well be talking about the questions that are circulating in his own life.

Katy Pinke '10 delivers a strong performance as the mother, displaying an impressive range of emotions while remaining true to the blackly comedic tone of the play. Sebastian Franco '12 also deserves recognition for the impressive versatility of his facial expressions and mannerisms as he seamlessly transitions among Elmer's many identities. Rounding out the cast are Dan Abromowitz '13 as Miles, Alex Simon '12 as Milo, and Charles Perry Wilson '10 as the father, a less-than-stellar parent by any standards. For my taste, however, the acting in certain scenes made me wonder whether, with such an absurdly tantalizing storyline, a carefully placed deadpan or two might have been more effective than hyperbole.

These performances were complemented by the understated minimalism of the set, a welcome reprieve from the exaggeration of other aspects of the play. The creativity and ingenuity of set designer Alice Zheng '13 brought flexibility to a small set, with each section serving easily changeable dual purposes. The lighting, designed by Devon Wessman-Smerdon '05, worked hand-in-hand with the set design by visually distinguishing each section. It even served as a thematic guide for the audience, highlighting the two air vents to signal their importance in the play. Because when faced with emotional turmoil, don't we all just need a little time to vent?

Nelson-Greenberg's inventive script speaks to a daring imagination that shows promise for the author's future endeavors. She takes risks that are sure to raise more than a few eyebrows and leave the audience with a handful of question marks. Though there is room for maturation and a little more polish, Nelson-Greenburg's writing certainly draws a reaction from her audience, bringing a mix of comedy and insightful commentary to the Theatre Intime stage.

Up against the likes of Triangle's fall production, "Ragtime," "My Fair Lady" and a host of other shows, "Venting" opened to a thin crowd, but this thought-provoking comedy is definitely worth a visit to Intime this weekend.

3 PAWS