By Cynthia Citron
LOS ANGELES–A middle-aged couple, once married but now divorced long enough to have gotten over their various grievances and resentments, have become casual friends. Would it be feasible, he suggests, for them to become Friends With Benefits? After all, neither of them has potential partners beating down their doors. And, as successful doctors, neither has the time to devote to finding and cultivating bedmates. She says she’ll think about it.
But while she’s thinking about it, she is diverted by an encounter with a classy, high-priced call girl who turns her life around. The call girl is The Escort, the beguiling center of a new play by Jane Anderson, commissioned by the Geffen Playhouse and now having its world premiere run at that theater.
Charlotte (Maggie Siff), who takes pride in her work as a highly successful prostitute, is introduced as she arrives for a physical exam by a newly recommended gynecologist. Rhona (Polly Draper), the gynecologist, and female half of the divorced couple mentioned above, is surprised to have her traditional attitudes about sex challenged by Charlotte’s freewheeling professionalism. Striving to be open-minded and non-judgmental, Rhona is captivated by Charlotte’s tales, and titillated to the point of considering a rendezvous with one of Charlotte’s male colleagues.
Meanwhile, Rhona and her ex-husband Howard (James Eckhouse) are bedeviled by the sexual awakening of their 13-year-old son, Lewis (Gabriel Sunday). Lewis, a stereotypical present-day nerd, spends all his time on his computer, mostly on lurid porn sites, and his parents’ bickering about how to handle this situation provides much of the humor in the play.
The actors, under the able direction of Lisa Peterson, do an outstanding job with a play that is delicately presented, tongue-in-cheek, and reasonably predictable. A treatise on modern-day sexuality, mores, and the quest for intimacy, The Escort challenges the viewer to examine his own convictions and to measure his own successes and shortcomings in these areas.
As Charlotte advises, “Sex is never sad as long as it’s erotic.” And, she says, “I enjoy my work. I’m not intimidated by power.” She also proudly acknowledges that she regularly donates her services by providing “pro bono sex” at the Veterans’ Hospital.
While all these characters appear real and credible, there are a couple of dangling subtexts that are never fully developed nor explained. They deal with Charlotte’s almost obsessive devotion to her young nephew, and an encounter she has with Howard and Rhona’s son Lewis.
Nevertheless, The Escort is entertaining, fast-moving, fairly tasteful, and sometimes even laugh-out-loud amusing.
The Escort will run Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. through May 8th at the Geffen Playhouse, 10886 LeConte Avenue, in Westwood. Call (310) 208-5454 for tickets.
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Citron is Los Angeles bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World. She may be reached at cynthia.citron@sdjewishworld.com