Not for a first date

I remember watching We Don't Live Here Anymore on my own when I was living in Chicago. As the credits rolled, I actively appreciated that I was single. It was the kind of movie that just shows the absolute worst of being in a relationship.

Anne very generously took me to
Fifty Words this weekend as a belated birthday present. As Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Marvel took their bows, Anne leaned over and said how glad she was that neither of us had seen this show on a first date. It, like We Don't live Here Any More, will make even the most relationship-oriented person think twice about marriage. Butz and Marvel play a couple whose life together is on the verge of collapse. Parenting, career, and financial stress collectively take their toll and bring out each of their worst qualities. Over the course of a night they go from giddiness over having the house to themselves while their nine-year old son enjoys his first sleep over to giddiness that they can finally be honest with each other: honest they way you are with someone you never have to see again, because their lives together are so irreparably damaged that they'll permanently go their separate ways in the morning.

The play feels very theatrical at times (and not in a good way), especially in the beginning. And while Butz and Marvel eventually find their footing, it's no surprise that the show was written by a man. Butz gives the better performance in this two-man show, but he's also given a deeper and more nuanced character to play.

Life with either of these two characters would be pretty miserable, so it's hard to fault either for their marital ambivalence. Life watching Norbert Leo Butz on stage is pretty good, though.