The second in CTG’s 2019 Block Party Series, Rotterdam depicts the trials and tribulations of a gay couple, Fiona (Ashley Romans) and Alice (Miranda Wynne). Brits, these spunky lesbians are living and working in Rotterdam. Though they squabble a lot, their relationship is pretty solid, until Fiona lets it drop that she is thinking of transitioning to male. That means taking hormone shots, lowering her voice, dressing as a man…and possibly having a gender-changing operation. Alice is stunned and challenged by this news. Though she has had a few boyfriends in the past, she is absolutely certain about one thing now: “I like girls.” What complicates matters, though, is that when she is with Fiona—correction, Adrian (his new name)—feelings of love still bubble up within her. She also experiences guilt when Adrian demands to know why she has lost respect for him, can no longer see him for the person he has always been. Two other characters play important roles in this ultra-modern, gender-bending love story: Josh (Ryan Brophy) and Lelani (Audrey Cain). The former is Fiona’s big brother, a hip, wise-cracking guy who followed her to Rotterdam and gives her a shoulder to cry on when things with Alice fall apart. The latter is a gorgeous, free-spirited Dutch girl who makes no bones about being lez—and about being attracted to Alice. Rotterdam itself can be considered a fifth character in the play. Act One takes place on New Year’s Eve in that city, where parties are taking place everywhere, firecrackers are exploding, and music is pulsing (Dutch techno-rap). Jeff McLaughlin’s jagged, neon-gaudy set also conveys the zeitgeist of that port town with its bars, hash shops and hedonistic life style. Director Michael A. Shepperd emphasizes the slightly cartoonish look and feel of the play by encouraging his actors to be bigger than life, exaggerate their body and vocal language. Even the set changes (carried out by the actors) are tightly choreographed and regimented, suggestive of puppets on a string. Act Two, which takes place four months later on the day of a national holiday, unfolds in a similar way, with Lelani coming on to Alice on the icy crust of a frozen canal meant to represent the danger this femme fatal poses to the more innocent, conflicted Alice. Jon Brittain’s play was first done in London at Theatre503 and was successful there and at L.A.’s Skylight Theater last year, thanks to its mixture of passionate intensity and caustic humor. But more than anything, it is the superb work of the actors that makes this encore production of Rotterdam the triumph it is. They have infused the text with life and heart, and have managed to wring two and a half hours of tears and laughter out of the audience.
