THEATER REVIEW: Azuka Theatre's Nerve @ Latvian Society, 4/22

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THEATER REVIEW: Azuka Theatre's Nerve @ Latvian Society, 4/22

POSTED: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 4:30 PM

Filed Under: Arts Theater

Photo | John Flak

Elliot and Susan walk into a bar, ready for their first blind date. And that's where the commonalities between reality and the stage end. Here begins Nerve, a far-fetched comedy outlining a first date between two people who seem normal enough — at least via the Internet — yet are the epitome of every single person's fears of the online dating world. Susan (Leah Walton) is a frosty, insecure woman with a twinge of multi-personality disorder and an obsession with sex, who used to cut herself; Elliot (Charlie DelMarcelle) is an obsessive, over-attached love hound, complete with puppets and two restraining orders against him from former girlfriends. From moment one, Nerve takes the audience into this crazed couple's world where it's clear that online dating just isn't all it's cracked up to be. Though a little too fantastic at times, Susan's indescribable dance numbers and Elliot's wooing of puppet effigies during bathroom breaks add to the hilarity and outlandishness of the main characters. Nerve is a great example of up-in-your-face comedy, where nothing is too sacred to satirize; this insensitivity is the essence of the play. It becomes essential to show the audience the ridiculousness and petty emphasis which society has placed on a high-tech method of attempting to build human relationships. I wouldn't recommend this production to anyone whose heart is set on finding that true love in the cyber world, but for the rest of mankind, Nerve is the dark comedy that will keep you laughing and later pondering the deranged world of dating we endlessly subject ourselves to.

Through May 2, $15-$25, Azuka Theatre at the Latvian Society, 531 N. Seventh St., 215-733-0255, azukatheatre.org.

RELATED >> ARTS PICK: Nerve

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