Blue Surge

Reviewed by Lara J. Altunian 
Sixty-Six Theater Co. 
Closed  

Sometimes a person’s best intentions are not enough to stop a worsening situation. Rebecca Gilman’s Blue Surge examines the unlikely relationship between a police officer and a prostitute. Their personal struggles mirror one another’s search for change and happiness in a discouraging world. Although the topic is interesting, the slow plot bogs down much of the well-written dialogue, and the underwhelming ending keeps the play from feeling memorable, despite Sixty-Six Theater Co.’s well-executed performance.

Officer Curt (Eddie Alfano) enters a massage parlor as an undercover cop looking to bust a brothel. There he meets Sandy (Hope Quattrocki) who fails to fall for his ruse and instead gives him an actual massage as they talk about their backgrounds. Curt’s only lie is that he is in construction, otherwise they form a brief, but genuine connection. Shortly after, Curt’s dopey partner Doug (Steve Mize) jeopardizes the case by entrapping another prostitute, Heather (Rosie Koocher), whom he arrests, but is later forced to let go. His carelessness threatens Curt’s chance at becoming lieutenant of their small, Midwestern town’s police force. As Curt wrestles with his work and strained relationship with fiancée, Beth (Whitney Anderson), an artist with high expectations regarding Curt’s career, he seeks solace in his attempts to help Sandy stop hooking and straighten out her life. It isn’t long before his good deed begins to backfire and the reality of their situations leads the two of them to question who they are and what they are willing to do to pull themselves out of their endless ruts.

Alfano’s Curt is the right combination of tender and rough as a policeman juggling with confidence issues stemming from a difficult past and overbearing girlfriend. Quattrocki’s Sandy is a good foil to Curt with her blunt personality. Their natural conversations bridge the gap between the characters, revealing their shared pain. Right away they establish their heartaches as their personalities’ defining factors — a quality both try to overcome as the play moves along.

Mize and Koocher are hilarious in their quirky roles as irresponsible goofballs with just enough spunk and charisma to keep you from hating them. Anderson’s Beth adds the fuel necessary to help push the storyline forward during some of its slower moments. Her climactic fight with Curt leads to a discussion about class and poverty, which deepens the production’s underlying discourse.

Paul Rush’s scenic design splits the stage into three sections, which Paul Timmel’s subtle lighting helps define. Rush’s direction works well with the actors’ performances, but the decisive tension built up at the end of each scene is dragged down through clunky transitional rustling that takes place as the actors rearrange props and ready the next set. This is especially evident in the second half of the play, as the scenes grow shorter and the audience is made to feel as though they are spending much of their time sitting in the dark.

A lot of Blue Surge’s plot points are unfortunately predictable. However, the acting and back-and-forth quips between the characters help create the very human connection the show strives to achieve, presenting a familiar story from a different, often less-visited angle that will leave viewers rooting for the main characters no matter what.

Marilyn Monroe Theatre, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood; Closed. https://sixtysixtheater.com/tickets/. Running time: two hours with no intermission.