In the revival of Sex with Strangers, which was first performed by Steppenwolf in 2011, Cameron Meyer plays Olivia, a serious but unsuccessful novelist who meets Ethan (Casey King), a hack writer who has become rich cranking out erotic tales on the internet. The meeting takes place on a snowy March night at a Writer’s Retreat in rural Michigan. Olivia is 40, Ethan 28—and a stud. The collision of opposites is intense, visceral and fiery.
At first Olivia rebuffs Ethan because she despises his kind of trashy fiction, but such is his charm, sexuality, and rugged good looks that she soon succumbs to his advances. Against her will, she not only goes to bed with him but begins to fall in love with him. Ever the master seducer, he conquers her quite easily, only to show a different side when his feelings for her deepen and begin to resemble something like love.
Their relationship becomes more complex and volatile when they dig deep with each other and discover things that shock. At the same time, they begin to grow a literary connection, especially when Ethan reads her new manuscript and enthuses over it, giving her the encouragement to keep writing. Not only that, he offers to publish the book himself.
The publishing question, with its constant argument over e-books, print books, podcasts, and film deals becomes a bit bewildering and contrived. Social media also comes in for much discussion between Olivia and Ethan; she being old-fashioned has no use for it, he can’t live without it. They also get into hassles over their respective manuscripts, which they don’t want the other to read (for reasons that aren’t always believable).
Sex with Strangers, then, is that unusual thing: a literary love story, one with innumerable twists and turns. The play doesn’t always work well, but when it goes deep into the emotional side of this unlikely couple, it is both touching and true.
