The subtitle of Spain calls the play “a f*cked-up comedy.” This label is not completely accurate. While the show is definitely a comedy, featuring copious copulation and minor substance usage, the play itself is not “f*cked-up.” In fact, it won the Outstanding New Play Award from NOW Magazine in Toronto. The Bridge Theatre Company’s current production, which runs through December 14, is seamlessly directed and solidly performed, such that the only f*cked-up thing about it is intentional: the characters are codependent to the point of inertia.

Eric (Todd d’Amour) is unemployed and struggling at the center of a strange, subtle love triangle. When his girlfriend Beth (Esther Barlow), an artist, returns from a six-month trip to Italy, Eric must distance himself from his friend Jared (played by the playwright, Michael Rubenfeld) in order to devote more time to his rocky relationship with Beth.

Initially, the nature of Eric’s friendship with Jared, a slacker editor of documentaries about genitalia and excrement, is ambiguous. Over beers, the two men profess love for each other; Jared stares at Eric with what looks like romantic longing. Says Eric, “I’m not abandoning you, Jared. I’m simply incorporating Beth back into my life.” A kiss seems imminent, but it does not occur. Instead, Jared reminds Eric that, when they say goodbye, they are “always hugging,” and so they embrace.

The tension amplifies as Eric and Beth attempt to make love for the first time in six months. The scene is painfully, hilariously awkward, revealing how out-of-sync with each other the couple has become. Even cuddling seems unnatural; Eric rests his head on Beth’s breast as though it’s in his way, interfering with his comfort. One wonders—would he be more comfortable with a man? With Jared?

Eric’s dependency on Jared grows more evident as he plies his friend for relationship advice, including sex tips. Beth finds the men’s emotional intimacy disturbing. Finally, Eric determines that the three of them should bond via tabs of ecstasy. This ludicrous idea results in the play’s most hysterical moments (suffice it to say that the line “She lives on in the roast,” could not be funnier). Under the influence, emotions heighten, and with Beth out of the room, Eric kisses Jared—evidently for the first time. In the two weeks that follow, Eric goes AWOL, during which period Jared connects with Beth over her photos from Italy, implies that he’s not gay, and kisses her. Eventually, the complications between all members of the miserable trio become so thick that for any character simply to leave the room, a tug-of-war of “I think you should go.”/“Should I?”/“Yes.”/“Are you sure?” must transpire.

Paradoxically, this fugue state of indecision drives the action of the play. Guiltiest of the inability to make choices independently is Eric. In his efforts both to please Beth and to sustain his friendship with Jared, Eric has no capacity to establish what he wants. He relies on Jared to articulate his needs—a job that Jared accepts with reluctance, perhaps only because it constitutes the foundation of their friendship and because Jared himself wants to be needed. Moreover, although Beth has traveled to Italy alone, she returns to an unsatisfying and imbalanced relationship with Eric and compulsively expects it to work. Ultimately, Eric proves to be the most spineless of the three. If he acquires any self-knowledge, it is that, when he is left with no one to lean on, he has no idea what to do with himself.

The small playing space of the theater suits the claustrophobic entanglements of the characters. The set is simple—a chair, a couch, and an easel comprise the furnishings. Two doors help indicate changes in scene locales. Even with the sparseness, there is enough movement onstage to hold the eye’s interest, yet the blocking never overpowers the real centerpiece, the interplay of the characters’ half-stifled emotions.

At times, the characters’ inability to express themselves becomes slightly tedious. In such instances, the rhythm of the dialogue, marked by staccato stops and incomplete thoughts, feels repetitive. While this pattern mirrors the characters’ ineptitude to actually decide anything, it also seems overused. Recurring exchanges such as “Are you lying to me?”/“No.”/“Are you sure?” and the aforementioned “You should go.” lines entail too much back-and-forth verification.

The actors handle the script with aplomb. As Jared, Rubenfeld conveys sensitivity and neediness through wistful gazes at d’Amour (as Eric), who masks his character’s insecurity with a touch of bravado that is never overplayed. Barlow makes Beth likable by avoiding the potential pratfalls of the angry girlfriend stereotype.

At one hour and twenty minutes, Spain ends abruptly, yet exactly when it should. The characters hold the viewer’s interest through the play’s final moments, but they have little more to say to each other. What has not been said is what they are incapable of saying.

The Bridge Theatre Company at Shelter Studios
244 W. 54th St.
12th Floor
212.352.3101
Tickets $10 with promo code “FIRST” at theatremania.com