Los Angeles Theatre Review My Romantic History

Dating is no cake walk, especially the older your baggage gets.  And dating in Los Angeles?  Forget about it.  Falling in love is much easier in one's youth before harsh realities begin to crowd their way in and attempt to hijack whatever is left of one's optimism.  By luck, lack of proximity, and timing, many, more so than ever, must contend with personal needs, preferences, and the nagging notion of settling.  In D.C. Jackson's self-described "profane comedy" US premiere (adapted from his 2010 Edinburgh Fringe production), My Romantic History explores the desires of two protagonists and challenges our assumptions, as it becomes soon clear that one's reality is someone else's mis-imagination.  It's a sexy, youthful workplace comedy that you would hope to find on television, but, alas, you must travel to the theatre to see.  Betina Mustain introduces the play in a top hat and jacket over leotard (she also cheekily serves shots of water between two of the acts).  The set is black with white furniture, including a water cooler that looks like a Greek bust.  We're then treated to the titular biography care of asides and flashbacks to the distant and near past.  This love story takes a Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus approach cataloging all of the insecurities which inform our judgments, as well as the clouded perspectives we impose on prospective partners.  While playing around with gender roles in the evolution of our confusing modern times where some bets are off and others in full-force, the characters struggle to start acting like adults and less from the idealized young adult mindset their choices in life have locked them into.  


The writing is sassy and adept.  Lines like, "I'd rather share an STD with a woman I slept with than a baby" and "I am thirty-three years of age and I have never been less married" constantly fall from the actor's lips.  As this is a play about dating, naturally, the leads dispense advice/commentary from both the male viewpoint ("The disadvantage of sleeping with coworkers is that they know your schedules") and female ("When boys take you home, it's like a tour of the shittiest museum in New York").  The language is lewd, but ultimately innocuous.  It's also refreshing to see a story take the kid-gloves off on a normally taboo subject that surfaces later in the story. 

Henderson Wade

History is smart, slick and moves like clockwork as Thomas (Henderson Wade) glides onto stage guiding the audience through impressions of his life.  He breaks the fourth wall immediately.  "I come across as a dick," informing the audience at one point.  He is confident, yet self-effacing.  Wade's blindingly wondrous good looks make it quite easy to buy him as a player, but a testament to his performance is that he is able to reveal a little bit more beyond the surface.  His comic timing is endless, extending to whistling the American anthem while simulating masturbation.  The chemistry he shares with Emily O'Meara is insane.  Her raven-haired Amy pretty much steals the show as the unapologetic Amy.  Sometimes unlikeable, she's manipulative, sarcastic, and real.  The ensemble performances are quite game.  Mike Maolucci, at one point, dressed as a housewife, reminds me of John Roberts from "Look at the tree" fame.  Mustain does a great bitchy, but sweet cheerleader and kind of stops the show when she tries to give Thomas a drunk blow-job during a passive-aggressive date.  Also in the cast are Wilson Better (who sports perhaps the best breakup tattoo ever), Sterling Ferguson, and Theodora Greece.  The actors whisk in and out of the efficiently staged production, which, granted, relies on a gimmick, that gets great mileage out of Alejandro Romero's assured direction.  

History plays at The Renegade Theatre (a super cute space right off Sunset on Gardner) through July 29th (with limited engagements).  You can find out more information by clicking here or on the logo to the left.