Edward Dahlberg's aphorism, "what man's head would do is always defeated by his scrotum," pretty much sums up the theme of Talhotblond, the play by Kathrine (sic) Bates which is now running at the Ruskin Group Theater. A world premiere, the play is based on Barbara Schroder's documentary film about a man whose cyber-sex infatuation not only dominated his life but destroyed it.
Mark Rimer plays Thomas Montgomery, an office clerk who meets Talhotblond (Erin Elizabeth Patrick) online and falls hard for her. This despite the fact that he has a wife, Cheryl (Kathleen O'Grady), and a teenaged daughter, Gwen (Julia Arian). Thomas' rationale is that he's only playing a game and a harmless one at that. Cheryl knows better and tries to get him to quit corresponding with her, but the poor man is too far gone for that.
Talhotblond is a young southern gal right off the centerfold pages of Playboy: beautiful, sexy and a terrible tease. She's also not above flirting with Alan Garrett (John-Paul Lavoisier), Thomas's fellow clerk. This sends Thomas into a jealous rage, one which sets the stage for a final act of violence.
Talhotblond’s creative team had to overcome some difficult production problems, such as how to show Talhotblond online and how to duplicate computer text messages. This is accomplished in effective fashion, though there are occasional technical glitches.
Another tricky challenge involved showing Thomas as a young marine sniper (Ben Gavin). Seeing himself as he used to be -- virile, fit and hard-charging -- makes the middle-aged, overweight, paper-pushing Thomas yearn for Talhotblond even more needily and desperately. But the juxtaposition of two constantly posturing characters -- Talhotblond and the khaki-clad Tommy -- comes off awkwardly and unconvincingly.
Bates has also underwritten two key characters, Alan and the office-boy Pete (Oscar Cain Rodriguez), both of whom betray Thomas in cruel, villainous fashion. But my big problem is with Thomas himself. Though I'm aware that millions of men like him get caught up every year in weird cyber relationships, he is so stupid, shallow and gullible that it’s hard to spend ninety minutes in his company. Full marks, though, to Talhotblond’s excellent cast and director.
