Some Couples May

continued

Without her, Some Couples May wouldn't quite stand on its own. Whenever Aphrodite (whose character is much less aptly named Isabel) isn't on stage, the play tends to settle into a track laid down by a million soapy Lifetime theme-of-the-week dramas, as Crim tries to tackle too many big issues with dialogue that isn't up to the job. Emily is often more of a Kuebler-Ross five-stages-of-grief machine than a believable woman, and both Emily and Faye are reduced to constant, tearful hormonal outbursts. Radcliff, Simmons, and Porterfield fare slightly better at crafting characters out of thin material. Leydenfrost, playing the smallest of the parts, is left entirely at sea by playwright Crim, who continually alludes to his character's backstory, but gives him no lines to make any of it relevant.

Fortunately, you don't have to see Some Couples May without Isabel/Aphrodite. Her salty whip work keeps enough scenes taut and trim to make up for the limp moments.   

[Originally published in May, 2011.]