Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Miranda Rose Hall’s very current PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT is disarmingly honest, and is must-see theater

• By drediman
• October 31, 2018
• No Comments

Marianne Rendon and Jax Jackson in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of “Plot Points in Our Sexual Development” by Miranda Rose Hall at the Claire Tow Theater.

I recently had a chance to catch Miranda Rose Hall’s new play Plot Points in Our Sexual Development in a production by Lincoln Center Theater at the Claire Tow Theater. I found the piece to be tremendously moving, totally capturing the current zeitgeist as it relates to the knotty state of human sexuality. The two-hander tells the story of Theo (a transgendered man) and Cecily (a lesbian) as they each confessionally recount, to each other and to us, their sexual development that has led them to the present moment. As they reveal more about their sexual selves, it becomes increasingly clear that the two may perhaps be incompatible as a romantic couple.

Ms. Hall’s succinct play is the kind of truthful, powerfully compelling storytelling that artists strive for in the theater but only seldomly completely unlock. Luckily, like Theo and Cecily, her deceptively straightforward play resolutely has a clear sense of itself and what it wants to accomplish – and it does so with aching directness and top-notch craft. Indeed, the play’s exploration of sex and intimacy vis-à-vis gender is dealt with in a frank manner that’s simply disarming. These are two young people with very clear sexual needs, and it neither glorifies nor cheapens this very human trait.

Plot Points in Our Sexual Development is staged with elegant sparseness by Margot Bordelon. As Theo and Cecily, respectively, Jax Jackson and Marianne Rendon are exceptional. Their performances are brutally transparent and unflinchingly honest, imbuing their characters with a realness that feels lived-in and really quite persuasive. Even though the production only lasts just about an hour, it’s thanks to these two exceedingly fine actors and their utterly convincing work that Theo and Cecily’s respective histories expands the play in our mind’s eye and quietly and confidently commands our attention. I would say you shouldn’t miss this one.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
Off-Broadway, Play
Lincoln Center Theater at the Claire Tow Theater
1 hour (without an intermission)
Through November 18