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Neil Haven’s The Playdaters is a refreshingly uniqueshow that mixes drama with comedy and commercial elements with experimentalaesthetics. Spencer (playwright Haven) and Erwin (Jeremiah Munsey) play a gamein which they challenge each other to perform various activities while on dateswith women they meet through the Internet. Spencer, for example, challengesErwin to try to get a date (Karen Estrada) to touch him 20 times while speakingentirely in a German accent.
Spencer’s loyalty tothe game is called into question when he finds a beautiful young woman(Elizabeth Shipe) who is exactly his type and decides to go on a “real” date.Haven builds enough rhythm to make a sudden, genuine date seem comicallyawkward. The comedy is as interesting as the drama at times, but in a one-hourshow there isn’t enough time to fully develop either element. Overall, however,The Playdaters satisfies.
The Playdaters,which ended its one-weekendrun in Milwaukee,continues at the Chicago Fringe Festival through Sept. 5.
