Group Therapy

Sweet Talk Productions at Theatre 68 Arts Complex
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Through August 20th

RECOMMENDED

It’s Waiting for Godot for mental health-conscious millennials – after a time-change mixup lands Jonathan (Andy Hoff) and Cassandra (Marnina Schon) in their therapist’s waiting room at the same time and a local emergency delays their therapist, the unlikely pair have nothing to do but therapize each other. But in the play’s second half, an unexpected new arrival in the waiting room shakes things up in a dangerous way. Sweet Talk Productions presents the world premiere of Peter Lefcourt’s new dramedy Group Therapy, an exploration of the explosive potential of human connection.

Jonathan and Cassandra represent two polar-opposite ends of the spectrum of people who pay $225 per session for therapy in Los Angeles. Jonathan is a fastidious podiatrist whose buttoned-up exterior hides a messy and complicated dynamic with his boyfriend. Cassandra is a bubbly free spirit with a handful of maxed-out credit cards and no direction in life. Andy Hoff and Marnina Schon skillfully imbue likeability into their rather unlikeable characters and create a uniquely watchable dynamic. When the state of emergency necessitates a lockdown of the building, Hoff and Schon’s comedic chemistry is pitch-perfect as they struggle to co-exist and find common ground. And that’s the reason why actual group therapy is so effective — interpersonal dynamics can often create the friction necessary for greater self-awareness in a way that individual therapy can’t.

Director Terri Hanauer injects as much dynamism as possible into the play’s first half, which threatens to be weighed down by Jonathan and Cassandra’s boredom and frustration. But when mysterious intruder Michelle (Ashley Platz) bursts into the office, the tension rises to a fever pitch that’s at once dangerous and hilarious. A play about therapy is at risk of devolving into therapy-speak (pop psychology terms and armchair analysis), but Group Therapy offers a necessary antidote in its subtly absurdist tone.

 Theatre 68 Arts Complex, 5112 Lankershim Boulevard, N. Hollywood. Opens Fri., July 21; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru Aug. 20. https://OnStage411.com/therapy. Running time: 1 hour and 20 minutes with no intermission.