David Folwell may be the first playwright to use Boise, Idaho, as anyone's realization of Utopia. In his dark, humorous and kinky comedy, Boise becomes the ostensible paradise for two of the play's characters. For one, a notably dysfunctional, disenchanted and disillusioned New Yorker, it becomes an objective. Stewart (Christopher Burns) is clearly frustrated by the predictability his seven-year marriage to Val (Geneva Carr) and his dull middle-management job. At first, Stewart's itch is placated by internet porn and closeted fantasies of an affair. The direction of Stewart's life changes radically when Bill (Matt Pepper), a co-worker, introduces him to the beautiful and seductive Tara (Lucia Brawley), an uninhibited and candid woman from the company's Human Resources Department who, in turn, introduces the vulnerable Stewart to the philosophy of Bertrand Russell. Aside from their talks about love and sex, and, of course, the city of her dreams, Boise, Tara also makes it clear to Stewart that she has no qualms about sleeping with married men as long as the wife is told. From his toying with the idea of an adventurous indiscretion to his eventual but almost irrationally-induced degradation, Stewart's downward spiral is followed by Folwell's perverse eye and his uncommon wit. Folwell's intentions are most evident in the curious way he considers and treats the tantalizing turns in Stewart's descent. These are orchestrated by a series of situations and circumstances, some quite comical, that allow Stewart to ponder the consequences of change and also dally with the different faces of morality. Stewart's growing inability to communicate either with his wife, his office buddy Bill or his single, women-chasing, long-time friend Owen (Alex Kilgore) finds him growing closer in spirit to his sister Jackie (Tasha Lawrence), whom he meets with and confides in with increasing frequency. Although we are privy to Jackie's own more eccentric sexual need for S &M encounters (including a hilarious episode with a long-haired musician and another with a masked health food fetishist who ties her up and force feeds her), her deviant behavior provides a clue to their different natures and the ways they respond to personal relationships. And what kind of a sister would give a brother a dildo for his birthday? Only after a rather unpleasant quarrel that turns ugly are their different psycho-sexual proclivities clearly revealed to each other. It is clear that Jackie is aggressively acting out her fantasies while Stewart is unable to answer to the baser call of nature, except during one unfortunate climactic moment, and unable to totally commit himself, except through a lie that leads to tragic results. Rob Bundy's effectively quirky direction of Boise is evident in the cleverly executed scene transitions, the anything-can-happen-and-does atmosphere, and the right-on performances. It is also evident that Bundy is in tune with the Folwell formula. He has also gotten splendid performances from Burns, who, as Stewart, creates a credibly psychologically wounded and conflicted human being, though one who obviously didn't take enough of Russell's peace-preaching philosophy to heart. Lawrence gets a lot of funny/sad mileage out of Jackie's penchant for pain. Besides playing the ill-fated Bill, Pepper has the plum assignment of playing three of Jackie's bad dates, all of whom he becomes with comical diversity. Kilgore makes a good impression as the womanizing friend who turns out to be less slimy than you'd expect. Although Carr is credible, as the initially clueless wife, her role is the least defined in a play that otherwise clearly defines itself by being dangerous as well as a little daffy. Technical credits, including Wilson Chin's functional setting and Peter Hoerburger's lighting, are first rate. Boise may be Texas-born New York-based playwright Folwell's first major production in New York, but it shouldn't be his last, as there is always room for another distinctive dramatic voice, as well as for a fresh perspective on how and why people behave the way they do. Known for its edgy, gritty plays, The Rattlestick Theater currently has a winner.
