The Kitchen Sink
nytheatre.com review by Anoush Froundjian
August 12, 2006
Real life flows through The Kitchen Sink nonstop. It's a smart and witty comedy about a group of college seniors who struggle with their hopes for the future and the unknown. Four women—four people—discuss and experience love, sex, post-college worry, how to be a woman, and how to not be afraid to call someone a douche if he/she deserves it.
The leading actresses each possess a separate charm and charisma that make the play a living, breathing animal with a pulse and soul. Jess (Olivia Henderson), Margo (Audrey Malone), Avy (Jenny Morgan), and Cal (Amanda Deibert) are all in their senior year of college, coping with love, feminism, and pre-graduation panic. Their conversations and relationships are so natural, it's as if being on stage is a coincidence. Blake Edwards, Brian Meredith, and Drew Baldwin play the other characters whom these 20-somethings have the pleasure or displeasure of encountering in their college careers. The chemistry among the members of the company is electric. They have perfect comedic timing and each conveys a sense of honesty and devotion to one another. The hopeless romantic needs the witty intellectual needs the creative whimsical free spirit needs the astute timid one with the carefree past. We know each character, have gone to school with each character, admire and want to be like each character. And the 20-somethings of today should be proud to see our generation portrayed in such a light.
Applause erupted after each scene—some scenes are long, while others are brief phone conversations or asides. Every scene is a performance in itself. The space is small and intimate and invites you in as soon as the lights go up. The girls let us see them in their underwear and bathrobes, as well as their Sunday best. All three dimensions are shown. Characters are unafraid of being politically incorrect; unafraid of confessing sometimes-unglamorous truths; and unafraid of just saying the occasional "F*** it" when need be.
The writing is sharp and witty and the dialogue could not have been more natural. Playwright/director Meghan Gambling has created a solid comedy where the characters are as realistic as can be. It's an honor to see women like Cal, Avy, Jess, and Margo portrayed on the stage. You'll forget that you're watching a play. It's alive, organic, and hilarious. Take your friends, lovers, parents, aunts, and uncles to see these new friends in The Kitchen Sink.
