Stop Motion: Matthew Lawler and Tina Benko in Rough Sketch. Photo: J. Cherrae Photography

 

Rough Sketch

Written by Shawn Nacol

Directed by Ian Morgan

Rude Mechanicals
Theater Company

59E59 Theaters

59 East 59th Street

www.59e59.org

 

Review by Lucy Butcher

 

In Shawn Nacol’s Rough Sketch, two animators, holed up at Doodle Ranch Studios between Christmas and New Year, try to make progress on an overdue picture called “Coffee Beanies.” The two-actor play starts off promisingly, with an engaging opening scene. Barbara arrives at the office — which is cluttered with posters, mugs, toys, action figures, and drawings — and proceeds to turn on her computer and unpack water bottles, protein bars, and pills from her bag. She thinks she’s alone and bristles when she notices someone in the next cubicle: Dex, a colleague she’s never spoken to before. There’s some sharp dialogue as they come to terms with each other: Barbara: “I work poorly in groups.” Dex: “I’m not a group.” Barbara: “I meant other people.” Soon, Barbara proposes they have sex, and, after some matter-of-fact discussion about the pros and cons, they do, against the office snack machine.

 

Unfortunately, there’s nowhere to go from here. The rest of the play, which tries a little too hard to be a “deranged comedy,” moves at a very slow pace as Barbara and Dex bicker and banter, engaged in a creative war. In between exchanges about relationships, careers and goals, which are peppered with a couple of witty remarks, there are attempts to be deep — Barbara wants to make an important and artistic film that empowers children, while Dex believes animation should be fun and optimistic — but these insights are hollow and leave us with little to ponder. Although the dialogue is constant — in fact, it allows barely a moment to breathe — we never really get to know the characters.

 

The play is well acted, however. Tina Benko is excellent as the uptight, awkward, over-literal Barbara, a self-confessed hater of snuggles and hugs. Matthew Lawler makes a competent Dex, an ex-drunk, ex-husband, whose life is consumed by digital animation. But at nearly two hours with an intermission, the play needs some significant editing to hold our attention. Rough Sketch might have worked as, well, a sketch, but instead it’s an overdrawn narrative, which says too much while saying very little.

 

Comments? press@showbusinessweekly.com.