Review: BOTTG's 'Coming Apart' adds heart to Carmichael comedy

In BOTTG's spring show, Coming Apart, by Fred Carmichael, we meet Frances Kittridge (Natasha Harris) and Colin Kittridge (Paul Hughes) as they simultaneously declare, "I want a divorce." The bold opening gets our attention, and shakes up Frances and Colin as well. Neither Frances, a successful romance novelist, nor Colin, a widely syndicated humor columnist, expected their partner to also ask for a divorce. They are both taken aback, and the bickering and blaming begins.

We learn about Frances and Colin through conversations and flashbacks of important moments in their relationship: the day they met, the day they got engaged, the time they played matchmaker to their best friends, Sylvia (Adrian Deane) and Bert (Chad Clevenger), and an imagined future when their own careers have dwarfed that of their partner's. The flashback moments play out twice, once from each the wife's and husband's points of view. But memory is subjective, and what Frances remembers is not what Colin remembers. The comedy is in the contrast.

The characters address the audience as they set the scenes for the flashbacks. These tête-à-têtes with the audience draw us in, allow us to connect and develop empathy for these flawed characters.

And they are flawed. We learn, for example, that France's motivation for asking for a divorce involves research for a chapter of her new book, How to Survive A Marriage. Stumped to know how an unsuspecting husband might react if, out of the blue, his wife were to ask for a divorce, Frances asks Sylvia for advice. As her publishing agent, Sylvia wants Frances to finish the book. She suggests an in-home experiment: From the vantage of France's own picture-perfect marriage, Sylvia suggest Frances ask Colin for a divorce to experience his reaction first-hand. Frances agrees!

Colin's reasons for asking for a divorce are a bit more vague, and seem to have more to do with ego and rivalry. The present day Frances doesn't admire and adore him the way his memories assure him she once did. When they met, his career was taking off and he basked in his growing fame. She was an unknown author about to sign her first book deal. Can it be that France's growing success as a romance novelist became too great a threat to Colin's ego?

While the script is lean on sharp wit or memorable one liners, a pleasant, playful humor runs throughout and the onstage chemistry between the actors makes for charming or charged moments of connection between the friends and lovers.

The actors all offer enlivening performances, but the lack of cohesion in their acting styles is, at times, a bit off-putting. Natasha's Frances is natural, realistic and a joy to watch. Adrian's Sylvia is somewhat stylized, but fun and believable. Paul's Colin and and Chad's Bert are played more comically. Acting styles balance out in flashback scenes where all characters become more animated caricatures of themselves.

For Bay Area director Angelina LaBarre, "Coming Apart really came together with something to please everyone's sense of humor. The actors have taken these barbed exchanges between two spouses and friends and infused them with lightness, humor, and at the core, love. After all, in order for this play to work, we have to like these characters. And I do."

Me too!

Coming Apart plays through May 12 at the Historic B.D.E.S. Hall at 140 West J Street, Benicia, CA. General Admission is $22. Special $40 Show and Dinner Deal - Venticello's. Reservations and tickets online at beniciaoldtowntheatregroup.com.