Play Puts `Trust' in Solid Cast
Lust, betrayal and seduction are not always suitable for a family's night at the theater. But regardless of its all-ages appeal, or lack thereof, Lab! Theatre's latest production, Steven Dietz's "Trust," brilliantly brings together the less glamorous aspects of both celebrity and sexual politics. The play bluntly dissects the erotic and mental games men and women play on each other, as the script both analyzes the "moves" of men at bars and ponders the nuances of the feminine mystique. But the plot is more akin to soap opera than psychoanalysis. Cody (Devin Kirk) is a rock star whose fame and fortune give him the liberty to jump from woman to woman. Cody lives amid celebrity excesses despite his engagement to Becca (Elizabeth Coyle). Becca fakes phone calls from admirers and makes up stories about passionate rendezvous in an effort to gain attention and affection from Cody. Meanwhile, Becca's friend Gretchen (Alexandra Hartley-Leonard), is a seamstress making Becca's wedding dress, and passions eventually arise between the two women. Had it not been for the skill of actors involved, "Trust" would have become a tawdry "Melrose Place" episode with enough controversial content to earn a NC-17 rating. Thanks to the talented cast, "Trust" instead illustrates how these hedonistic characters are destroyed by each other's excesses. After discovering Cody's infidelity, Becca screams profanities, throwing glass after glass on the kitchen floor in rage. The idea of fidelity was then disregarded - as was Becca's heterosexuality. After Becca's breakdown, Gretchen kisses the estranged fianc