Stella’s Last J-Date

Reviewed by Mayank Keshaviah
Whitefire Theatre
Through May 26

At the outset of blind dates, we are generally careful not to reveal too much about ourselves too soon. What will my revelations say about me? Can I trust this person with intimate information? What if he or she is a stalker…or a serial killer? But the opposite is the case in the world premiere of Andy Rooster Bloch’s latest play, as his characters dole out vast quantities of exposition from the outset.

This is especially true of the title character, Stella (Amy Smallman-Winston), who describes herself as “blurt and blab” and comes off as a neurotic motor mouth with a raft of insecurities. Her match on J-Date, Isaac (Barry Livingston), holds back a bit more, but even he reveals his alcoholism quite quickly. The intent of the writer is perhaps to find comedy in inverting the traditional paradigm in such interactions, but laying so many cards on the table from the start leaves little mystery, leading to a lower level of investment in the story.

That’s not to say that nothing is left unrevealed, especially the curious appearance of Don (Elvis Nolasco), a tough-guy type who plays it close to the vest while dropping a litany of MF-bombs. Looking like a ‘70s pimp in his orange leather trench coat and fedora, Don randomly pops in and out of the action — usually when Stella is away from their table — to reveal secrets about her to Isaac and to manhandle him into staying away from her. While Nolasco does his best with the lines he’s given, he frequently sounds like he’s trying to be Samuel L. Jackson’s character from Pulp Fiction.

Stella and Isaac also come off as caricatures rather than multi-dimensional characters, something that Bloch’s writing suffers from throughout. Bloch goes to the well of stereotypes one too many times, and his dialogue remains mostly on the nose, with the occasional foray into an unexpected dirty joke. Stella’s exits from and eventual returns to Isaac at the NYC bar where their date takes place do not feel authentically motivated, and their conversation threads are never woven into a coherent dramatic arc. The source of their attraction also remains unclear, other than the fact that they are both older, single and Jewish.

Director Bryan Rasmussen allows Smallman-Winston to push Stella too far into the “crazy” zone, where her mannerisms often become cartoonish. He also does little with the staging to clarify Don’s out-of-left-field appearances and revelations. Sure, there are a few laughs along the way due to the ridiculousness of it all, but finding a connection to these lost souls and rooting for them to end up together remains difficult.

Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; Thurs., 8 p.m.; through May 26. (818) 990-2324 or jdate.brownpapertickets.com. Running time: One hour, 15 minutes with no intermission.