The Little One Factor

A Chicago Dramatists contributing to Face Theater presentation of the play in 2 functions by Sarah Gubbins. Directed by Joanie Schultz.Darcy - Kelli SimpkinsLeigh - Park KrausenNate - Halena KaysMargot - Rebekah Ward-HaysJacob - Steve O'ConnellTwo lesbian couples contemplate being a parent in Sarah Gubbins' "The Little One Factor," a play that smartly mixes debate and drama, argument and mental thought. One moment, the buddies are speaking rationally about the advantages of being transparent to some child in regards to a sperm donor father, and subsequently they're barely hanging onto calmness like a character's carefully subdued fears and desires hurry towards the surface. The outlet scene catalyzes the drama inside a manner not unlike Jesse Margulies "Dinner With Buddies," as, in the finish of the meal, lesbian couple Nate (Halena Kays) and Margot (Rebekah Ward-Hays) show their good buddies Leigh (Park Krausen) and Darcy (Kelli Simpkins) the truth that Margot is pregnant. Leigh, best pals with Nate for several years, is thrilled Darcy is simply plain shocked, her rapidly established verbosity, frequently tinged with judgmental condescension, switched instantly to speechlessness. For that impulsive Leigh, the big event makes her immediately wish to pursue getting a young child for that butch, conservative Darcy, the invention forces her to cope with layers of issues, from her concerns of both financial and emotional readiness to unspoken doubts about her relationship to, ultimately, more deep-sitting mental questions regarding her very own self-worth. While keeping a good grip about the play's fundamental realism, Gubbins does permit the work to bounce around a little in tone. The very first act moves along steadily but typically, with facts of the affair one of the foursome with Leigh continue with arranging a child, even identifying that they should share exactly the same sperm donor as Nate and Margot. The 2nd act starts with increased comic sequences, presenting the willing sperm donor Jacob (a great Steve O'Connell), who must navigate completely different agendas from Leigh and Darcy. During these quite strong segments the pace is brisker, the moments leavened with overt plotting and dramatic irony. The climactic sequence brings all of the figures together for which offers to function as the outing of some secrets, but eventually ends up going further, turning out to be a scene of emotional cruelty that, since "August: Osage County," appears to possess be a niche of Chicago playwrights. Director Joanie Schultz handles the tonal changes effectively, and warrants extra praise for staging transitions that stylishly propel both story and character. You will find a few potentially problematic elements in "The Little One Factor." First, Gubbins remarkably shows a blatant butch/femme split both in couples, but, while Nate and Darcy's maleness turns into a subject, the stereotypical excellence of the associations goes undiscussed inside a play that talks about a great deal. More concerning from the craft perspective, the smoothness Darcy possibly rules the play an excessive amount of -- she's undoubtedly probably the most complex from the women, and many things are driven by her a reaction to occasions. Kelly Simpkins (among the original entertainers in "The Laramie Project") puts forth a raw, intense performance of the character whose motivations appear to peel away because the play goes forward, but who remains unlikable virtually from beginning to end. The emotional impact of her actions might be restricted to the possible lack of exactly the same dimensionality in other figures, but Darcy's mental complexes are provocative enough, her motivations ambiguous enough, and Simpkins' performance sufficiently strong, to create "The Little One Factor" a piece of great depth.Set, Chelsea M. Warren costumes, Izumi Inaba lighting, Sarah Hughey seem, Miles Polaski stage manager, Jenniffer J. Thusing. Opened up, examined Sept. 10, 2011. Runs through March. 16. Running time: 2 Hrs, 10 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com