I'd been meaning to familiarize myself with the script and/or screen adaptation of The Bachelorette prior to seeing the show, but I don't know...kind of difficult to work up much enthusiasm. The show's playwright Leslye Headland is a wealthy, young East Coast writer who has worked on scripts and screenplays. How wealthy is she? For four years right after her college graduation, she worked as an assistant for Harvey Weinstein. (Yes, that Harvey Weinstein). Granted, that’s no guarantee that she’s fabulously wealthy, but anyone working for a Weinstein straight out of graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts probably has connections that might make it a tad bit easier to reach some basic level of success without actually being any kind of particularly clever writer.
My personal prejudices aside, Headland’s The Bachelorette has made an impact since it debuted not too long ago. The script had been turned into a screenplay that was produced by...the Weinstein Company... in a production that only happened to star Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, James Marsden and Rebel Wilson among others. The original play on which it is based is being staged locally this month by Theater RED. It’s a dark comedy about a group of friends meeting at a nice hotel to celebrate an impending wedding the next day. There is jealousy and resentment. There is debauchery and destruction. It’s a dark comedy.
The film version wasn’t well-received by critics. (It's fun scanning Rotten Tomatoes on the script for the film version of this one. Words like "repellant," "utterly unappealing," and "thoroughly off-putting" get used in reference to aspects of Headland's work. Phrases include, "just not quite funny enough," "what's the point?" and simply: "not good.") This isn't surprising. It’s written by someone I would have a tendency to think of as being tediously privileged. Appealing writing doesn't necessarily come from a place like Headland. In spite of this, I’m looking forward to it. (I'm really, really looking forward to it.) Why? The cast. Film critic Keith Phipps may have said, "Spending time with these people is hellish," but he didn't spend time with these people playing these people because he hasn't seen this production.
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The cast here is amazing. Kelly Doherty plays the one about to be married. Doherty has proven herself in comedy and drama in the past, most memorably outsmarting the script of The Handmaid’s Tale into being brilliant in a relatively recent production. Her friends are played by Tess Cinpinski (who never seems to get the kind of work her unique deserves) Shannon Nettesheim (who has made quite an impression in a number of productions at the Alchemist Theatre in the recent past) and Liz Faraglia (who has emerged as a major talent on local stages of various sizes these past few years.)
Not familiar with these people? Where have you been? Okay . . . if you’re not, though here’s a really high-quality trailer courtesy of Traveling Lemur Productions:
Pretty cool, right? What isn’t extremely obvious in the work of notably impressive and doubtlessly friendly Traveling Lemur is that this show features an ensemble that brings together a group of people who haven’t necessarily worked together very extensively. This is very cool because--if one could piece together an all-star cast of young local actresses, this particular ensemble would be really, really close to being perfect. So it's great actresses finding a new connection and working together on something...that doesn't really have to be any good to be entertaining because as I say: the cast. This is cool. Trust me.
So maybe the script might not be exactly great. (I wouldn’t know.) Even if the characters aren’t particularly interesting (though I suspect they might be) this ensemble is well-worth hanging out with. This is easily going to be one of the most enjoyable dark comedies of the season judging from the ensemble alone. The script...I don't even care about the script.
Theater RED’s production of Bachelorette runs Mar. 3 - 17 at the Alchemist Theatre on 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. For more information, visit Theater RED online.
