The one-act Playdaters, whichrecently debuted as part of Haven’s master’s program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), will be stagedhere for one weekend before it goes to the Chicago Fringe Festival inSeptember. Haven and fellow UNLV grad Jeremiah Munsey star as Erwin andSpencer, a pair of guys using a dating website to play a game involving prankson unsuspecting women. The women in question will be played by Karen Estrada andLiz Shipe. The rules of the game gradually break down in a decidedlycontemporary take on romantic comedies in the age of rapidly shifting onlineidentities. This could be a really interesting one-weekend show.
Out-of-towner Munsey issomething of a wild card in the role of Erwin. The East Coast native plays acharacter he helped developed when he and Haven were students in the UNLVplaywriting program. Having been with the project since its first draft, Munseyshould be a natural as Erwin.
Estrada has had a numberof solid comic performances in the past season, particularly in RenaissanceTheaterworks’ The Smell of the Kill.Here her comic talent will be given a workout as she plays 10 different femalecharacters.
Shipe, a recentUW-Milwaukee grad, has displayed comic talent in a number of local productionsas well. In Playdaters she will beportraying a one-dimensional girl who catches the attention of Spencer. Judgingfrom recent stage appearances, including a mostly one-woman musical theaterproject at UWM this past season, Shipe should be ready for the challenge ofmaking a one-dimensional character interesting.
Haven, most recentlyappearing in Optimist Theatre’s TheTempest, is well known as a playwright.
Diversion Theatre’sproduction of The Playdaters runsAug. 26-28 at In Tandem’s Tenth Street Theatre. A couple of days later, theproduction moves to the Chicago Fringe Festival for a run Sept. 1-5. The fundsfrom the Tenth Street Theatre production will go directly toward maintainingits run at the Chicago Fringe Festival.
