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Threesome

By Yussef El Guindi; Directed by Chris Coleman
Produced by Portland Center Stage and A Contemporary Theatre

Off Broadway, New Play
Playing through 8.23.15
59E59 Theatres, 59 East 59th Street

 

by Keith Paul Medelis on 7.22.15

ThreesomeAlia Attallah, Quinn Franzen, and Karan Oberoi in Threesome. Photo by Hunter Canning. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: A first act bedroom comedy gives way to an explosive second act about cultural clashes of Islamic fundamentalism and other tricky subjects. 

You won't be certain what to make of Yussef El Guindi’s Threesome at intermission. For one, you’ve just spent nearly twenty minutes perusing every square inch of Quinn Franzen’s body. And you’ve probably had a few laughs at his bashful expense.

We’re asked to borrow from expectations of a kind of prudish, British, sex comedy tradition in these opening moments. An Egyptian American couple, Leila (Alia Attallah) and Rashid (Karan Oberoi), are having marital difficulties. The unassuming and charismatic Doug (Franzen) is invited over for a threesome in a plan to mend their differences. It quite predictably goes awry.

If you’re like me, these are cheap thrills. There’s a tired, cliché quality to the conversation. And the actors give it their all to reel me in.

I’m happy to report that this is merely the set up to a much more intriguing and substantive second act. Leila is publishing a novel and Doug has been hired as her photographer. (Ok, that feels a little convenient.) But when she arrives for the shoot, the set is decked out in souvenir-style, Egyptian décor, complete with a mound of red and gold throw pillows, a hookah, an exotic looking lamp, and an ominous burqa hanging upstage (designed wonderfully offensively by David McCrum, Seth Chandler, and Erinn McGrew with costumes by Alison Heryer). Alia is overcome by feelings of cultural objectification that lead this play in a startling and exciting direction.

There’s a hefty amount of bravery behind El Guindi’s play. The topical territory of gender, sexism, and identity within Islam makes for an important play worth taking note. Director Chris Coleman finds the delicate balance in the expectations of the play’s sex comedy beginnings and its intentional subversion by the second. And with Attalah and Franzen’s bodies both on full display, you can’t help but honor their literal and metaphorical plunging of deep emotional territory.

Threesome is a co-production with A Contemporary Theatre and Portland Center Stage, and it's wonderful to see west coast theatres taking on this side of the country with an exciting new work. The Pacific Northwest, so disconnected from our super-praised City, has suffered some massive theatrical setbacks in the last decade. I’m thankful for this collaboration. And 59E59 is a wonderful space; it’s like an undiscovered gem each time I find myself there.

(Threesome plays at 59E59, 59 East 59th Street, through August 23, 2015. Performances are Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7, Friday at 8, Saturday and 2 and 8, and Sunday at 3. There are added performances on Sunday, August 2nd, 9th, and 16th at 17th. Tickets are $70 and can be purchased online at 59e59.org or by calling 212.279.4200.)