"Calls to Blood" masterfully manipulates dramatic clichés, veering from cheerful chick-flick to terrifyingly twisted quick enough to cause emotional whiplash — manipulating audience mindsets, too, along the way. While establishing a couple's perfect relationship only to rip it apart isn't new ground, this flawless execution is beyond rare. You feel for this "perfect couple," rather than rooting against them. The most macho of men will feel heartstrings tugged (and promptly ripped out). And although you can predict eventual trouble — starting from the title — it will floor you nonetheless.
Playwright James Asmus and director Andrew Hobgood ingeniously present extra details of Alison (Sarah Gitenstein) and Jacob's (Gary Tiedemann) enviable relationship through the two supporting characters, their single friends Kirk (Evan Linder, hilarious as an egotistical lawyer) and Suellen (Mary Hollis Inboden, a standard chick-flick character only on the surface). The couple fails miserably playing matchmaker with the two, but Kirk and Suellen do grow close after "it" happens.
It's unimaginable that many theater-goers will predict "it." (And amazingly, Asmus claims "it" comes from true experience.) No spoiler here, but suffice it to say that "it" fits the Halloween season, without making "Calls" merely a Halloween play. (Justin's not, say, a vampire.) "Calls" is not dependent on surprise; the journey to "it" is entertaining, as is the gut-wrenching manner of the characters coping afterward.
The only complaint concerns staging; this is only the second season for The New Colony company. While the actors often work from non-standing positions (lying on beds or couches), seating is only slightly below the stage, obstructing views beyond the front row. But "Calls" would dazzle even if you could only hear the play. Just don't bother playing "guess the twist"; that's like steeling yourself for a roller coaster's hairpin turns only to have your car actually fly off the track.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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