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The articulately worded massacre threat that prompted feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian to cancel her Utah speech last week makes the provocative questions posed by the production of "Rapture, Blister, Burn" seem oddly prescient.
But maybe playwright Gina Gionfriddo's story about juggling ambition and family have been relevant ever since the first gatherer dropped the first "f-bomb" — feminism, that is — while demanding her hunter-partner split the work of caring for their young cave dwellers. And nagging him not to lose his ambition in the process.
F-word aside, director Adrianne Moore terms "Rapture" a meaty trigenerational study of gender politics that's also full of funny bits. The show plays Oct. 22-Nov. 16 at Salt Lake Acting Company.
The play unravels the story of Gwen, a former academic turned stay-at-home mom, and her husband, Don, a washed-up pot-smoking dean, after they reconnect with Catherine, their former graduate-school colleague. The feminist theorist is now a lit-crit rock star, a lonely single woman who has temporarily moved home after her mother's heart attack. The couple's marriage is shaken when Gwen and her babysitter, Avery, take a seminar from Catherine.
The seminar discusses changing gender roles, the political activism of Betty Friedan while collecting relationship advice from the likes of Phyllis Schlafly and Dr. Phil. It also considers the genre of torture horror movies and the reality TV cameras of contemporary raunch feminism.
If "Rapture's" issues sound serious, they are, yet life questions unwind comically as the play's five complicated characters consider life do-overs.
"I like that the play is a really nice blend of exploring ideas and how those ideas effect people's lives in a practical fashion," says Moore, in an interview between solving separate mothering crises that involved a visit to a doctor and the whereabouts of a certain pair of pointe shoes.
Gwynn's Gwen, her husband, Don (Robert Scott Smith), his former girlfriend, Catherine (Tracie Merrill-Wilson), and her mother, Alice (Jeanette Puhich), are all caught in not-quite-fulfilling lives. They imagine what choices they should have made, all while freely offering whip-smart Avery (Stewart Fullerton) "don't do this" advice about how to keep her man.
Avery, a privileged college student who performs as a stripper as she and her boyfriend are filming a reality TV pilot, doesn't identify herself as a feminist. The young character, who sees the world in black-and-white terms, serves a dual function in the play, Moore says. Avery is extraordinarily naive as well as extraordinarily perceptive about relationships, and serves as the story's voice of wisdom.
Offering layers of reality to the production are the cast's rehearsal-room conversations, which convey how the actors' life experiences mirror and contrast with those of their characters. A handful of cast members moved to Utah for a partner's job, which prompted their own questions about career sacrifices and life balance. "We're all the same ages as these characters," says Gwynn, "and these issues of 'What if?' or 'Maybe I should have' — they're big."
It's also a play that might be particularly relevant in Utah, where issues of raunch feminism, pay equity and the politics of motherhood may not be fully explored in the public sphere.
Adding to that complexity will be the life experience audience members will bring to the play, says Gwynn, who underscores that all of the story's characters display streaks of unsympathetic behavior. "That's the power of the play, why it's so good," the actor says. "It makes you mad. It makes you think. And it makes you look in the mirror, and that's terrifying."
The story is animated by the script's unspoken conversations, breakups, fights and even lovemaking. "There are probably two or three plays that could be written about what takes place offstage during this play," Gwynn says. It may be anchored on heady ideas, yet it's "all wrapped up in a juicy package that's a little bit of a soap opera."
facebook.com/ellen.weist —
'Rapture, Blister, Burn'
P Salt Lake Acting Company presents Gina Gionfriddo's play, which was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.
Where • 168 W. 500 North, Salt Lake City
When • Previews Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 22-23; opens Friday, Oct. 24; continues through Nov. 16
Time • 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 1 and 6 p.m. Sundays
Additional performances • Tuesday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m.
Tickets • $15-$42 (student/senior/30 and under discounts); at 801-363-7522 or saltlakeactingcompany.org
Also • Theatergoers should listen for the musical bridge between scenes of Burt Bacharach's' "Wives and Lovers." The song's lyrics offer fodder for Phyllis Schlafly's relationship advice:
Hey, little girl,
Comb your hair, fix your makeup.
Soon he will open the door.
Don't think because
There's a ring on your finger,
You needn't try anymore.
More • The theater company will partner with Crossroads Urban Center during the show's run. The agency is seeking food donations for women and children, particularly baby formula, says executive director Glenn Bailey.