When Leila (Suzan Faycurry) and Rashid (Demetrios Troy) tell each other they’re being too clever for their own good, it feels like an authorial hedge. The setting, in the first act of Yussef El Guindi’s play, is the couple’s bedroom, into which they’ve invited an acquaintance, Doug (Mike Tepeli), for a threesome—meant, it seems, to prove something to themselves and/or each other. Exactly what that something is becomes the subject of stuttering, stalling debate, as the hesitant couple hashes things out in front of Doug (as Tepeli gamely spends a good 45 minutes or more fully nude onstage).
As Rashid and Leila squander their guest’s good graces, a few hints emerge about their relationship: their identification as progressive liberals and Egyptian-Americans; an incident that took place during a volunteer mission to Cairo, presumably during the Arab Spring; a mysterious book Leila is publishing about the experience but hasn’t let Rashid read.
It’s not quite enough during this bedroom scene to piece together exactly what the two think they’re up to, though the back-and-forth is interesting (with welcome, bullshit-calling interjections from Doug). In the second act, though, set some weeks later, the expositional reveals become a flood, and though we know now exactly what led to the scene in Act I, we’re still not clear on how the one connects to the other.
In Jason Gerace’s production, some of that can be laid at the feet of Faycurry’s rather stiff performance. Tepeli and Troy both bring additional color to roles that are written somewhat flatly. El Guindi gives Leila more to work with, but then like her character, Faycurry keeps herself somewhat at an academic remove.
The Other Theatre Company at Greenhouse Theater Center. By Yussef El Guindi. Directed by Jason Gerace. With Suzan Faycurry, Demetrios Troy, Mike Tepeli. Running time: 1hr 40mins; one intermission.