Writers Theatre examines sexuality, race in 'Mystery of Love and Sex'
"The Mystery of Love and Sex," Bathsheba Doran's 2015 relationship drama, is both a little more complex than it appears and a little less satisfying than it might have been.
An examination of sexual identity, race and relationships, it's a sweet, gently humorous albeit not entirely credible drama. Its "mysteries" aren't all that mysterious and its characters' motivations aren't always convincing. But the play - in its Chicago area premiere at Writers Theatre in Glencoe - gets some things right.
The action centers on the relationship between Charlotte (a vibrant, vulnerable Hayley Burgess) and Jonny (Travis Turner, expressive and endearing), who have been best friends and neighbors since they were 9 years old. Now college juniors, they seem on the verge of becoming lovers. Maybe.
Charlotte is white and Jewish. Bright and mercurial, she passed on the Ivy League to attend college with Jonny. Black and Baptist, Jonny is the enigmatic, accommodating son of an unseen single mother who is battling cancer.
Well-acted and warmly staged by Libertyville native Marti Lyons in Writers' intimate Gillian Theatre, the play opens with Charlotte and Jonny hosting a dorm room dinner for Charlotte's parents. Howard (the ever-reliable Keith Kupferer) is a best-selling detective fiction author from New York. Lucinda (an ideal Lia Mortensen) is a Southern-born Catholic and convert to Judaism.
Even though Jonny has been like a member of the family for years, Howard and Lucinda raise concerns - disquieting for their racial implications - about a possible romance between him and Charlotte. What they don't know is that romance hasn't blossomed yet. And it may never blossom.
After they leave, the increasingly inebriated Charlotte confesses to Jonny her feelings for a female classmate. Jonny shares that he is still a virgin. She proposes they have sex.
Jonny declines, insisting it will ruin their friendship. Besides, he says, "I want so much more than that."
Their exchange makes apparent their love as well as the enormous power the needy Charlotte wields over their relationship. She exercises it - presumably unwittingly - to Jonny's detriment shortly thereafter when she comes out to her parents, just as Jonny prepares to interview Howard for an important class assignment.
Their relationship fractures, as does Howard and Lucinda's. Confessions and arguments ensue all around, leading to reconciliations that don't really feel earned.
Worth noting in this play about love and sex is that its most impassioned moments consist of arguments. That would be fine if the reconciliations didn't feel so perfunctory and character transformations didn't ring so false.
That said, "The Mystery of Love and Sex" expertly illustrates the imbalance in relationships both romantic and platonic. And it poses an important question: How can seemingly enlightened people be so oblivious to their biases and their privilege?
Now, that's a mystery worth exploring.
“They Mystery of Love and Sex”
★ ★ ★
b>Location: Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday through July 2. Also, 3 p.m. April 26, May 10, 17 and 31 and June 21. No 6 p.m. show April 30, May 14 and 21 and June 4 and 25
Tickets: $35-$80
Running time: About two hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Parking: Free street parking available
Rating: For adults; contains sexual content, nudity, strong language