![\"Who\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/web-MAIN-5561_Sex_with_Strangers_Lisel_Gorell_Getz_Connor_Sullivan_photo_credit_Daren_Scott.jpg\")
Sonnenberg, who was named 2015 Director of the Year by San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, gleefully, relentlessly and deliciously stages this work, rife with sex, suspense and contention.<\/p>\n
The script, a battle royale for truth, rarely lets up, and the production is a case where all the other artistic elements fall into place with beauty and precision to support the work: Brian Redfern\u2019s revolving, book-filled settings; Anastasia Pautova\u2019s lived-in, characterful clothes (love the red sweater); Anthony Jannuzzi\u2019s lighting design; and Kevin Anthenill\u2019s sound design and compositions.<\/p>\n
A one-hit novel writer named Olivia (Gorrell-Getz), who during the play hits a \u201cbig\u201d birthday (presumably 40), is socked away in a snowstorm, alone in a rural Michigan bed and breakfast, hoping to put the finishing touches on a novel that her pessimism dictates will not be a success.<\/p>\n
The publishing business has changed, and a series of misbegotten romances has debilitated Olivia\u2019s self-esteem and trust. So she is teaching school near her home in Chicago \u2014 it\u2019s spring break.<\/p>\n Along comes the con man \u2014 or at least the suspected con man \u2014 an incredibly handsome writer named Ethan (Sullivan), who is the commercially successful author of two books titled \u201cSex With Strangers,\u201d which were on The New York Times bestseller list for five years and have spawned an internet cottage industry of a half-million fans.<\/p>\n In his runaway hit books Ethan chronicled his youthful escapades bedding hundreds of women. Now on the cusp of 30 he is leaving all that behind, he tells Olivia, and creating a new image as a serious star-maker, editor, author and entrepreneur.<\/p>\n Ethan\u2019s arrival and subsequent conquest of Olivia arouse her suspicions, but she succumbs to his animal magnetism (Sullivan is scrumptious in all departments) and his raging intellect.<\/p>\n He\u2019s long been enamored of Olivia and her first novel, no longer in print, ever since he obtained a copy from her former teacher\/lover, now a hugely successful novelist. Ethan declares he fell in love with Olivia through meeting her in the book, which like so many first novels is largely autobiographical.<\/p>\n Though he\u2019s currently embroiled in the Hollywood filming of \u201cSex With Strangers\u201d and cannot linger in Michigan, Ethan is reunited soon with Olivia in Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cHmm,\u201d we muse, sitting in the dark. \u201cWhat\u2019s in it for him? Is he for real? Is Olivia right to be so skeptical?\u201d All is made clear in Chicago, both in the near term and a year or so hence, after the dust has settled from outrageous betrayal. The play is both fascinating and funny. Gorrell-Getz\u2019s final exit is masterful in its ambivalence.<\/p>\n Playgoers must see this captivating and imperfect play, stacked with brilliant portrayals of enigmatic characters. It\u2019s bound to be talked about for years.<\/p>\n \u2014Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. Follow her blog at charlenecriticism.blogspot.com<\/a> o llegar a ella en <\/em>charb81@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Por Charlene Baldridge | Revisi\u00f3n de teatro<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":251300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Who\u2019s conning whom?","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/web-5239_Sex_with_Strangers_Connor_Sullivan_Lisel_Gorell_Getz_photo_credit_Daren_Scott.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n<\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"