“Brutal” drama unveiled at Teatro Dallas

by Kara Fordyce of North Texas Daily

With Enter Stage Left founder Jessica McCartney's staging, the audience gets closer to Patrick Marber's intimate relationship drama Closer than ever before.

Teatro Dallas, the show's venue, is an intimate 45-seat theater, which allows the audience to feel like they are right in the middle of the action, McCartney said. She graduated from Texas Woman's University in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in theater, and started her company in April 2008.

McCartney said people loved this play, and its film adaptation, for its honest language and brutal depiction of sex and love. This show is for adult audiences and deals with the real life dark side of romance.

As one of the actors once told his ex-girlfriend, "This is our relationship."

"There are four characters in this play, and I guarantee everyone can relate to at least one of them," McCartney said.

Jason Folks, director of "Closer," said relationships are contests of wills. He said he has felt lied to by pieces of literature and art when he began dating and found it to be anything but repeated sentiments of "I'll hold your hand and love you until the end of time."

"(Relationships) can be beautiful, but they can also be ugly and surprisingly cruel," Folks said. "Even now, I'm learning that many of my expectations about relationships are not based in reality."

Folks said directing this show has been a pleasure, despite the dark source material.

"It's been wonderful getting to interact with a small group of talented performers, watching them make discoveries as they progress," he said.

He also enjoys the collaborative process, having a number of detailed discussions with the cast and learning their personal experiences, which color their character choices.

Folks said with such a difficult piece, it is hard to ask the performers to sometimes mine the unpleasant recesses of their life experiences to find those painful moments of past relationships.

"It's been a growth opportunity for me and has stretched me as a director," Folks said. "I hope it has been a similar experience for the actors, as well."

The Dallas premiere of "Closer" opens today and will be playing through April 18 with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. All performances will take place at Teatro Dallas at 1331 Record Crossing Road.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors and can be purchased at EnterStageLeft.org.