We Were Nothing!
Emilie Soffe and Elly Smokler in WE WERE NOTHING!
BOTTOM LINE: An inventive site-specific show about two friends communicating long-distance.
Upon entering a site-specific apartment building, you’re given a free beer (A+ for the show right off the bat) and told to sit wherever you’d like. I, naturally, select the huge leather chair in the corner, pop open said beer and await the start of a two-woman play called We Were Nothing! After adjusting to the characters’ quirky use of language, the show’s strengths shine through. For anyone who’s had a close friend from whom they’ve grown apart due to distance, We Were Nothing! really hits home.
Emilie Soffe and Elly Smokler play Shelly and Kelly, best friends since childhood who end up at different colleges. While apart, can they maintain what was so simple and lovely in their hometown? Will they continue to truthfully share things with one another? Will Shelly always be Kelly’s go-to girl, and vice versa? Will Arbery’s intelligent script nicely displays the bumpy and sometimes hilarious journey to these answers. How the girls simplify their lives and begin to consider their own stories trite or wasteful of precious time is all too relatable. Director Lisa Szolovits also shapes some killer moments utilizing Gchat and Skype, the latter having the actors pop in and out of a kitchen window.
Soffe and Smokler are gifted comediennes; neither are afraid to appear goofy or ridiculous amidst their unconventional physical and vocal choices. At one point, I did wish that Arbery’s script called for more depth within the performances. But then came the final ten minutes, easily the best part of the show. It’s when Shelly and Kelly reconnect in person that Soffe and Smokler get the chance to dive deep; both rise to the occassion. In a fascinating final sequence, Kelly changes her mind about telling something to Shelly. The emotional consequences of this choice provide a perfect ending.
We Were Nothing! is short and sweet. And when it’s not sweet, it’s all too believable in its presentation of a friendship on the rocks.
(We Were Nothing! plays at a site specific location given upon purchasing a ticket, through Februrary 9, 2014. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM; Sundays at 5PM. Tickets are $20 and are available at https://www.artful.ly/store/events/2099.)