Ian Jackson

Guy, Lombardi | Lorianna Lombardi makes an indelible impression as Tyler in Some Girl(s)

DETAILS

Some Girls
Northern Light Theatre
Friday, February 20 - Sunday, March 1

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SOME GIRL(S)
Directed by Trevor Schmidt. Written by Neil LaBute. Starring Christopher Schulz, Laura Raboud, Lorianna Lombardi, Linda Grass, Myla Southward. The Third Space (11516-103 St). To March 1. Tickets available through Northern Light Theatre (471-1586).
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I’m pretty sure I dated that guy. You know the type: the charming, manipulative serial dumper? Haven’t we all had that relationship at some point?

This sad fact is one of the things that makes Northern Light Theatre’s new play, Some Girl(s) by Neil LaBute, so great. It’s great because it’s completely recognizable. I might even go so far to say universal: we’ve almost all been just “some girl” or “some guy” at some point in our romantic lives. Haven’t we?

The play centres around Guy, a semi-successful writer who, while on the verge of matrimonial bliss, decides he should make a cross-country road trip to visit some girls — some ex-girlfriends, that is. Just to clear the air, he says — or perhaps to make sure he’s not missing out. His motives are complex, and they get darker as the play progresses.

And fortunately for us, the women don’t hold back. What we get is a maddening, explosive, funny, and poignant exploration of romance for the romantically challenged. And if you don’t see yourself in these characters, you surely see someoneyou know.

The wonderful Christopher Schulz plays Guy, and I’m not sure if it says more about me or the play to say that’s he’s entirely engaging and loveable despite his constant machinations and general horribleness. Laura Raboud as Sam, his first victim, is gorgeously vulnerable as the woman who never got closure from her high school love. Lorianna Lombardi is the highly sexed Tyler, and we love her boob-adjusting, chain-smoking temptress act as the female foil to Guy. Then comes Lindsay, played by Linda Grass, who is perfectly cast as the elegant married woman who bears a grudge. Rounding out the cast is Myla Southward, who plays Bobbi, the woman Guy really loves, with empathy, heart, and a whole lot of chutzpah.

The cast is directed by the multi-talented Trevor Schmidt, who also designed the set and costumes, and deftly navigates the emotional landscape of both women and men while giving LaBute’s words their full due.

And LaBute’s words are something to behold. One of the best contemporary American playwrights (remember Fat Pig, anyone?), LaBute brilliantly universalizes the bedroom comedy, raising it far beyond the petty intrigue of, say, Desperate Housewives. This play examines all kinds of romantic relationships, and intelligently and sensitively confronts the joint foibles and insecurities of both genders. This is not a male-bashing play, despite the odiousness of Guy. Indeed, this play is beyond gender (anybody notice that all of the female characters have androgynous names?), beyond he-said-she-said, beyond the country music cliché of “He done me wrong and now he’ll pay.” This play is about the human desire for love and companionship, and the wrong turns we sometimes take on that ol’ romantic road.

And to that guy? That guy or girl we’ve all dated? Doesn’t it feel good to say (and to really mean it), “It’s not you, it’s me.” Thank you, Some Girl(s). Thanks for the closure.