A Review

The Search For Compatible Life In The Dating Pool

By R. J. Donovan

Continuing its mission of bringing new artists to town, The Huntington Theatre is giving Boston a warm, engaging hug with “Bad Dates,” its first production of the new year.

Written by Theresa Rebeck (who’s got more than one Boston connection), directed by John Benjamin Hickey and starring Julie White (left), “Bad Dates” was presented at Playwright’s Horizons in New York last June and wound up on more than one “Best” list when the theater season was re-hashed at the end of December. Judging by the production being presented at the Huntington through February 1, it’s not hard to see why.

In this one-woman show, Julie White plays Haley Walker, a single Mom on the verge, trying to make her way in the world. Hardly a new topic. But “Bad Dates” is more than that.

It’s really an extended 90-minute conversation between two friends. Haley is one, the audience is the other. And the evening is so simply but brilliantly written by Rebeck that it never sounds staged, it never sounds phony, and it never seems anything less than a pure, supportive encounter between two old friends.

The setting is the bedroom of Haley’s New York apartment. Set off by blackouts, each scene finds her either preparing for or recovering from a date. Her daughter Vera is in the other bedroom with music blasting, and Haley runs off now and again to get advice on an outfit or consult on shoes. There are also a few phone conversations that help fill in Haley’s story.

Note that shoes play a big part in “Bad Dates.” You might even say they provide a nice analogy to dating -- Haley is won over more by the look, at the expense of the fit. Which is never more true than with one gentleman she snubs because she jumps to some wrong conclusions about his appearance, blind to the fact that she and he might make a good pair -- for a number of reasons.

Over the course of the evening, we learn that Haley (with a faint but endearing Texas drawl), married a not-so-nice guy, had a daughter and is now on her own. She got a job waitressing, only to work her way up to become manager of the restaurant -- which is also not what it seems. (Rebeck works in a very clever and very funny reference to the old Joan Crawford film “Mildred Pierce” here.)

Under Haley’s management, the restaurant becomes hot and trendy, serving celebrities and winding up on Page Six in the New York Post (kind of like being mentioned in The Inside Track in The Herald).

Part of Haley's charm is that she is not a got-it-all-together gal. She’s a vulnerable Mom, unsure of her next move, but trying to put herself out there and find someone with whom she can share her life.

So with a decent job under her belt and her daughter now a teenager, she re-enters the dating pool only to find the waters a bit choppy. Among her experiences, she winds up at a Buddhist fundraising luncheon, endures a mind-blowing lecture about bugs, dates a gay law professor, and is eyed by Romanian gangsters -- all of it very natural and all of it making great comical sense.

Starring as Haley, Julie White is nothing short of exceptional. She could easily be all over the place with her character, but under Hickey’s careful direction, she is real and spontaneous and candid. It’s so lovely a performance that you genuinely feel you do know her and that you are her friend. Plus she’s laugh-out-loud funny.

Clearly, the ladies in the audience will make a connection early on as Haley confides horror stories of her encounters with men. But in the end, the journey of finding someone to be with is not exclusively male or female.

The search for compatible life is universal, and kissing a lot of frogs before finding your prince (or princess) is part of the ordeal.

Just like bad dates.

"Bad Dates" is at The Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue in Boston through February 1. For information, call 617-266-0800 or log onto www.huntingtontheatre.org.

Production Photos: T. Charles Erickson

-- OnStage Boston

1/10/04