By Judd
Hollander
The path to true love does not always run smooth. You always
hurt the one you love. Time-worn clichés perhaps, but still quite accurate
in Bathsheba Doran's penetrating The
Mystery of Love and Sex, now at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
College roommates Charlotte (Gayle Rankin) and Jonny (Mamoudou
Athie) seem a perfect match. Best friends since childhood, the two have an
easygoing and comfortable chemistry, appearing to all observers, including Charlotte 's parents
Lucinda (Diane Lane )
and Howard (Tony Shalhoub), that they've moved to a new and more romantic stage
in their relationship.
However while Charlotte
and Jonny may be intimate in some ways, in others they're miles apart. Jonny is
a devout Baptist and a virgin, saving himself for marriage, while Charlotte is so
in love with Jonny she strips her clothes off one night, begging him to take
her right then and there. Though as soon becomes clear, just about all of Charlotte and Jonny's
afore-mentioned certainties are untrue. Both of them carrying secrets having to
do with sexual preferences, pairings and partners and what they see as
acceptable and what is not.
It’s a situation Jonny refuses to admit. This refusal making
him so closed off, he seems totally disengaged from everyone. An attitude
Howard immediately picks up on. Charlotte
on the other hand so desperately tries to deny her own feelings, she channels
them in completely inappropriate directions, ones which can only lead to
disaster. The only truism between Charlotte
and Jonny is they are indeed soul mates and best friends who should be able to
tell each other everything. Yet their attempts to deny their own personal proclivities
threaten to destroy them both.
A further complication is Howard. At first he’s not at all sure Jonny is right for his daughter, but when he comes to realize how much
For a rather intimate tale, Doran has created a sweeping
canvas for her story. One spanning five years, numerous relationships and locations,
as well as matters including religion, race, parental responsibility and homophobia.
The latter issues coming into play when Jonny accuses Howard of perpetuating
too many stereotypes in his writings; as well asking the older man if what he
wrote could have been responsible for a childhood incident involving Charlotte .
A major strength of the story is that neither Charlotte nor Jonny are
fully deserving of the audience's sympathy, the tale showing first one, then
the other to be seemingly insensitive, uncaring or just plain obnoxious, and
certainly not best friend material. Yet both characters, especially Charlotte are almost
immediately so interesting, one becomes quite willing to see where the narrative
will take them.
Rankin turns in a powerhouse performance as Charlotte . A girl continually wearing her emotions
on her sleeve, while seeing her love for Jonny as the solution to everything.
Though her best laid plans often backfire. Such as when Jonny gets involved
with another girl and Charlotte
gets roaring drunk and proceeds to publicly humiliate him.
Athie is good as Jonny, the character coming off as a mostly
standoffish cipher; at least until his own personal issues are brought to
light. Jonny's attempts to keep everything hidden eventually earning Charlotte wrath, and leading
to his own personal meltdown.
Shalhoub works nicely as the deceptively quiet and very
methodical Howard. Rather off-putting when first seen, the character turns out
to be quite complex and intelligent; having a strength that comes from
experience while going the extra mile to ensure his daughter's happiness. Though
his attempts in that direction are sometimes skewed by his not knowing all the
facts before diving in.
Lane is fine as Lucinda, though the character is the least
defined of the four. A free sprit, she finds herself more and more constrained
in Howard too-structured world, not to mention his perfunctory attitude towards
sex. Yet like Charlotte
and Jonny, Lucinda and Howard share a complex bond, one neither can completely break.
Sam Gold's direction is strong, quickly showing the
chemistry between Charlotte
and Jonny as well as nicely choreographing the various confrontational scenes
between the characters. Costumes by Kaye Voyce work well, especially the outfit
Charlotte wears
in the final scene.
Involving and ultimately uplifting, The Mystery of Love and Sex points out the importance of being true
to oneself. Not a bad message to impart and Doran has presented a very good
vehicle in which to do so.
Also in the cast is Bernie Passeltiner.
Featuring Diane Lane (Lucinda),
Tony Shalhoub (Howard), Gayle Rankin (Charlotte ),
Mamoudou Athie (Jonny), Bernie Passeltiner (Howard's Father).
The Mystery of Love
and Sex
by Bathsheba Doran
Sets: Andrew Lieberman
Costumes: Kaye Voyce
Lighting: Jane Cox
Original Music and Sound: Daniel Kluger
Stage Manager: Janet Takami
Assistant Stage Manager: Karen Evanouskas
Casting: Daniel Swee
Director of Marketing: Linda Mason Ross
General Press Agent: Philip Rinaldi
General Manager: Jessica Niebanck
Production Manager: Paul Smithyman
Directed by Sam Gold
Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse
Tickets: 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com
Information: www.lct.org
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes with one intermission
Closes: 
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