‘Girls Life’ at Pinch ‘N Ouch Theatre

Billed as “a comedy” by writer and director Grant McGowen, “Girls Life” brings few laughs. However, there’s hope as the cast and director of the show that I saw changes on Oct. 13, so things could improve.

The premise of the play appears to be that grown women act like college coeds. The play opens with three women –aged approximately 31 years old– smoking pot and getting drunk in an apartment that is shared by two of the women–Catey (Jordan Demers) and Janie (Christie Vozniak). The three talk about getting shit-faced and getting laid. Scene. Janie is in a man’s bedroom, demanding he have sex with her, but he won’t do it. She goes in a rage, yelling and screaming at him to f* her now. What we see is a lot of “acting,” a lot of “ouch” screaming, but there’s no “pinch” behind it all. Turns out this manic Janie is an obstetrician, living with another woman in a sparsely furnished apartment, getting wasted, cavorting with a 20-something busboy/waiter, Alex (Pedro Ferreira) and then going to work to deliver babies. So she’s an obstetrician making a six-figure salary living with a scattered-brain woman who is not quite sure which gender she prefers, in what appears to be a tiny tenement. Not only is that hard to buy, we learn there is more history to Janie’s relationship with this man, and based on that history, it’s surprising that she would even be with him. Maybe a college “girl” would, but a 31-year-old doctor? It’s far from plausible.

Catey, who has a boyfriend, is seeing a woman on the side, Liza (Alexa Staudt). Supposedly these two are passionate about each other, but their kissing didn’t seem the least bit passionate.

The best scene is the one in the above video, between Diana (Jackie Costello) and Jack (Omer Mughal), two people really relating to one another. It’s simple, without manufactured drama, but there’s plenty of drama there in those moments, and the dialog feels real. These two characters are believable, and the best acting of the show happens between them.

After Oct. 8, “Girls Life” will run with a new cast up until Oct. 23 under the direction of Michelle Pokopac at Pinch N’ Ouch.

The cast for Oct. 13-23: Rylee Bunton, Brian Ashton Smith, Candace Kitchens, Alex Frazier, Mala Bhattacharya, Alyx Libby. Direction will be by Michelle Pokopac.