by Tim Leininger

Chris Bauer (Tough), Aubrey Plaza (Susan), Mary Wiseman (Faye) & CJ Wilson (Dan) Photo Credit: Ahron R. Foster

            Revenge, sex, and a healthy dash of awkward insecurity peppers Let’s Love, the new bawdy comedy by Ethan Coen (Almost an Evening, Offices, Happy Hour), directed by Neil Pepe, running through Nov. 22 at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater at 336 W. 20^th St. in New York City.

            There’s a bit of irony in Coen’s Let’s Love as there is very little love involved, at least in the romantic sense of the word. The play opens with an independent scene of two people credited as The Broad (Mary McCann) and The Man (Dion Graham), sitting at a bar. The Broad kicks off with a lengthy monologue propositioning The Man for a night of ravenous sex that she ensures will be the best he’s ever had. He then responds with is feelings on the idea. That’s the scene and all we’ll see of these two characters for the duration of the play. Though this 15-minute segment is a one-off, it plays as a place setting for what the rest of the play will be in the classic Coen tone.

            The rest of the play centers around a series of connected characters and their completely discordant love lives. We start with Susan, played with a mix of sexual narcissism and cynicism by a striking Aubrey Plaza, as she hires Tough (Chris Bauer), a sleazy hitman, to beat up her ex-lover Dan (CJ Wilson), who was caught cheating on Susan with Faye (Mary Wiseman). Unable to afford the whole bill for the job, she sells her body for three sexual encounters as part of the contract. Everything following steamrolls from this initial interaction as the various participants in this quirky quartet meet, connect, and — in some cases — bed each other. Things go further as Susan attempts to reignite her sex life by meeting Howie, played with a degree of neurotic anxiety by Noah Robbins not seen since Woody Allen’s Alvy Singer.

Noah Robbins (Howie) and Aubrey Plaza (Susan) Photo Credit: Ahron R. Foster

            The play has a couple closing scenes as Robbins plays another romantically awkward young man simply credited as The Boy, who goes on a date with a young lady played by Dylan Gelula, simply credited as Girl, and a scene with The Boy with a colleague at work played by Graham.

            Essentially this is all supposed to be three independent narratives: the duo at the bar, the Susan story as part two, and The Boy and Girl as part three, but there is so little distinction between the characters of Howie and The Boy that it if you didn’t know they were different characters, you could easily believe that they are the same and that the story has just naturally progressed from Susan’s plot to his. It’s even reasonable to assume that Graham’s credited Colleague character is the same man from the beginning of the play. I would have preferred if these characters were the same as it would have provided a little bit of continuity between the parts.

            Let’s Love is a wacky sex comedy with colorful eccentric characters with some disturbing motivations. The humor flips back and forth between Coen’s trademark biting commentary on culture, in this case modern dating culture, and the crude and even grotesque. Even then, the crude, grotesque moments satirize dating life, pushing the worst moments that can happen during a date to the extreme. But as enjoyable as many of these moments are, there isn’t much of character development and journey to be had here. It’s more an array of comical sequences, which is fine. The cast all do a good job of making the most of the many absurd moments. Plaza exudes confidence on the stage while the three men also play their respective roles with their own individual sense of sexual desperation, floundering like fish on a beach desperate for water, vying for her attention in their own way.

Mary McCann (The Broad) & Dion Graham (The Man) Photo Credit: Ahron R. Foster

There’s some simple, effective set design by Riccardo Hernandez using rotating flats, transitioning from a bar to Susan’s home to Dan’s home. It’s nothing audacious, but practical and efficient. There is some good lighting work by Reza Behjat, who keeps each scene perfectly pocketed with illumination, based upon the scope of the size of the scene.

            Let’s Love is a fun sex comedy satire. There’s not much depth to it, unless you want to take a deeper Freudian or Jungian analysis on their sexual motivations, which may say more about Coen than the characters. Regardless, it’s entertaining, the performances are a delight, just don’t expect too much beyond laughing at some of the absurdity of modern sex and dating culture.

LET’S LOVE

TICKETS: https://atlantictheater.org/

PRODUCTION: Written by Ethan Coen; Directed by Neil Pepe; Sets: Riccardo Hernandez; Costumes: Peggy Schnitzer; Lighting: Reza Behjat; Sound: David Van Tieghem; Original Songs: Nellie McKay; Set Decoration & Props: Faye Armon-Troncoso; Vocal Coach: Kohli Calhoun; Casting: The Telsey Office; Will Cantler, CSA; Destiny Lilly, CSA; Press: Boneau/Bryan-Brown; Production Stage Manager: Karen Evanouskas; Director of Production: Zach Longstreet; Director of Development: Andrea Newman; Director of Marketing: Braley Degenhardt; General Manager: Pamela Adams

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Chris Bauer as Tough

Dylan Gelula as Girl

Dion Graham as The Man & The Colleague

Mary McCann as The Broad

Nellie McKay as Entertainer

Aubrey Plaza as Susan

Noah Robbins as Howie & The Boy

CJ Wilson as Don

Mary Wiseman as Faye