Oil Lamp Theater’s “Poor Behavior,” with Sam Fain, Ksa Curry, Jack Morsovillo and Lauren Paige/Photo: Gosia Matuszewska
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The lousy manners alluded to in Theresa Rebeck’s “Poor Behavior,” playing now at Glenview’s Oil Lamp Theater, are perhaps best personified by Ian (Sam Fain). A rather verbose Irish man, Ian prances about the stage with a sulky and manipulative edge that frequently unleashes a whole array of rather boorish behaviors. Accompanying Ian is his long-suffering wife Maureen (Lauren Paige), whose deep paranoia is occasionally rooted in reality.
Together these two are the house guests from hell to their old married friends Peter (Jack Morsovillo) and Ella (Ksa Curry), who had unwittingly invited them up to their country home for the weekend. There, the four of them stumble their way through a tangled web of accusations and possible infidelities.
Director Lauren Katz brings to stage a quite impressive and altogether fully realized production. Daniel Friedman’s evocative light design is especially effective, with his use of shadow creating at times an almost ethereal experience. This, along with the solid set (Trenton Jones) and sound design (Alex Trinh), create a very clean space for the talented actors to perform. And talented indeed they are, with Sam Fain especially convincing in his role as Ian, who is played here like a cajoling, flattering and needling devil on the shoulder.
Ian’s banters with his wife and Ella are especially revealing to his true character. With their stark lyrical quality, his monologues bear more than a passing resemblance to the Irish poetry that he professes a love of. A perfect counterweight to Ian’s rants come from the emotionally repressed Peter, played well by Morsovillo, whose acts of rage are mostly confined to the garden.
“Poor Behavior” does not paint a pretty picture of marriage. Rather, this dark comedy offers up an exceedingly honest look at the many pitfalls awaiting married couples, especially those just beginning the middle part of their journey together. This period is an especially fragile flex point; a time when life’s many decisions, from where to plant the basil to whether or not to have children, are just beginning to become consequential.
This play, like marriage itself, is definitely not for the faint of heart. But it is a journey well worth undertaking.
“Poor Behavior” is on stage at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview, through May 10. Tickets available here.
