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Wink - The Constructivists
Jaime Jastrab in "Wink" by The Constructivists
“What’s new, pussycat?” So goes the refrain from the ‘60s hit by lounge pop singer Tom Jones. It’s one of the cat themed tunes playing before the start of Wink, the latest theatrical offering by the Constructivists. The answer to this musical question is simple: plenty!
Wink, by Jen Silverman, is also the name of the cat which features prominently in this darkly funny, delightfully surreal 70-minute production (no intermission). “I’m just a cat,” replies Wink, but he’s far from that. He’s talking to his owners’ psychiatrist, having used up one of his nine lives after the husband, Gregor, has gruesomely “disposed” of Wink secretly. Sophie misses Wink terribly and has no idea of what her husband has done—yet.
Director Jaimelyn Gray has assembled an excellent cast of four who mine the material for all it’s worth. Entertainingly believable in their wacky roles, this ensemble rises to the occasion as situation contains to spiral downward. Wink is after all a cat, a hunter. And this hunter seeks revenge.
As the married couple, Rebekah Farr (Sophie) and Ekene Ikegwuani (Gregor) mesh perfectly, she the idealized stereotype of the stay-at-home housewife and he as the stolid provider who gradually reveals his own fears and secrets. Their unraveling as a couple is perversely fascinating to watch. And Matthew Scales is hilarious as their psychiatrist who becomes enamored of Wink and fleshes out his role as he moves self-assured professional to insecure housemate seeking advice from who else? Wink.
And then there’s that darn cat. As Wink, Jaime Jastrub moves slinkily and stealthily as a feline, his quiet, self-assured voice reinforcing a calm exterior while laser-focused on his taste for human blood. If there is such a thing as perfect casting, Jastrub meets the mark and is riveting to watch.
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Cat got your tongue? In Wink, the answer is a definite yes—and a whole lot more.
Wink runs through Nov. 6 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For more tickets call 414-291-7800 or visit: theconstructivists.org/
