With characters named “Dude,” “Gal,” and “Chick,” I was wary that Spills would be just another cliché story about millennials (What industry did we kill this time?). I was wrong. Who What Where Theater Collective did right by this millennial, telling a sexy, silly, and most of all daring story about modern sexuality that one-up’d itself with all three acts.
Act 1 opens with Dude (Jacob Thompson), a professional Ultimate Frisbee player living in a six-person group house and making the most of his open relationship, answering a knock at the door. His Tinder date has arrived: Gal (Kira Omans), a graphic designer who is about to burst with anxiety over what is about to come. Namely, Chick, Dude’s yoga-loving, kombucha-swilling friend with whom Gal is about to have her first threesome.
At first, playwright Ruthie Rado, rapid-fire wit at the ready, cleaves to the stereotypes you might imagine. Omans especially shines in the first act, her anxiety almost an audible buzz as she worries both about doing anything wrong and what will happen if she gets what she wants. But, as comfort grows between the three, we uncover so much more, including a heartfelt monologue from Gal digging into her family history, surprising news from a genealogy website, and her elderly father’s failings. Spills far exceeds expectations in how fully realized a character named “gal” could be.
Another star is the venue, Rhizome DC. When performed at the Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage Festival in 2018, the play was already set in a Takoma Park group house. A more appropriate venue than Rhizome DC does not exist. It is literally a house in Takoma Park, but with the added feature of being a nonprofit community arts space, complete with an art installation in the bathroom (Not ADA-compliant though, as the living room performance space is up some stairs and the bathroom is up more stairs on the second floor). Thompson’s Dude looks completely at home, dashing down the stairs and swinging through the kitchen like a monkey on a vine.
The found seating that lines the “stage” makes for an intimate experience, fitting less than twenty audience members. Sadly, not all seats are equal. Due in no small part to a lot of time spent sitting on a couch angled just so and over on one side of the stage, the far wings of the audience often have much less access to the action. While that is just what happens in a theater large enough to have a balcony, when there are only a dozen audience members, it is a shame to leave someone out.
Spills goes big for Act 2, reveling in a lengthy metaphor portraying a lively threesome as a variety of sports and field day games. Production designer Brittany Martz does the work of an army of designers. The outlandish costumes, props, and soundtrack are maniacally delightful. The whole cast does a remarkable job, with their timing down and energy way, way up. And whenever the fray threatens to drag, Rado slips another hint into exactly what the metaphor means, reinvigorating the risqué atmosphere. Rado also earns points for depicting casual sex with nuance, just as she explored Gal’s character in Act 1. The sex is fun and wild, but also frustrating and a little embarrassing.
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The final act is foreshadowed at the door when the audience is offered to take one of the special participatory seats. If you opt in, a character will offer you a drink and invite you to talk candidly about your own sex life, while the characters reflect on how they feel Act 2 went. As an avid immersive theatre and analogue game attendee/performer/player/designer, I can say Who What Where Theater Collective deserves special attention here for one fantastic choice: Dude says, during the sex scene, “Communication is key.” Audience members who opt-in to the special seats are fully briefed on what will happen with them, then they sit in a chair with everything spelled out again on a piece of paper taped to it, before one of the co-artistic directors includes a third identical explanation in her announcement before the show begins for all to hear (assuaging the anxiety of not only the participants but also everyone watching).
Much has been written about transparency in interactive experiences other than theatre (I highly recommend Dr. Evan Torner’s paper Transparency in Larp, published in Larp Design (2019)), but theatre has lagged way behind in being communicative with its audience to create an informed, cooperative experience. Act 3 benefits significantly from giving audience members time to prepare themselves for their role and doesn’t suffer from the lack of “surprise” that low transparency interactivity designers (playwrights and directors included) too often treat as sacred.
Additionally, Rado uses it as a genuine way to show us a new side of her characters, both in response to their night together and in a totally different social context. Gal and Chick grow in surprising ways that yet again deepen their characters beyond what their names would suggest and depict a richer take on casual sex. Meanwhile, Thompson takes naturally to improvised banter with the audience; his ease is impressive, making Dude’s conversation a joy to watch.
Stories about millennials always put me on edge. Between social liberalism and social media, we have tremendous options for how to live but also a keen awareness of what each choice means in the eyes of others. Last weekend, some friends and I joked about what our personal brands are, until we realized that we had stopped being ironic. That’s just how we need to think. So, when the play’s promo promised the character “Dude, the attentive polyamorous bro,” I prepared myself to feel characterized.
But Spills rises far above that, daring to tell a story about interesting characters having imperfect sex, to challenge its actors to compete in a raucous dodecathlon of sexual metaphor, and to communicate transparently with its audience about participation. With every opportunity, Spills exceeds.
Spills by Ruthie Rado. Directed by Rebecca Wahls . Cast: Rebecca Ballinger (Chick), Kira Omans (Gal), Jacob Thompson (Dude). Production design: Brittany Martz. Produced by Who What Where Theater Collective. Review by Marshall Bradshaw.
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