By David A. Sargent,Special to the Sun Journal
Public Theatre’s outstanding one-woman show evolves from comic to complex

LEWISTON – There are some surprising twists in the plot of “Bad Dates,” the current production at The Public Theatre.

Since this one-woman show is billed as a comedy, it may seem that an evening of witty one-liners is in store, but it’s the unexpected twists that turn the outcome of “Bad Dates” into a very satisfying affirmation of optimism.

All this owes its success to the outstanding performance of Julie Jirousek. As single-mom Haley Walker, who’s diving back into the dating pool with dubious results, Jirousek deftly takes us from triviality to a head-on encounter with reality.

“Bad Dates” opens with an explosion of activity. Haley has a preoccupation with shoes – dozens of pairs of shoes – and her quest to choose the perfect date outfit keeps her whirling through non-stop costume changes.

We also get a nonstop narrative from Haley about her most recent dates. Is she an incredibly shallow motormouth airhead? Is she the world’s unluckiest lady in the game of love?

These early scenes may be the biggest drawback to “Bad Dates.” For all their genuinely funny situations, and Jirousek’s fast, furious and unfaltering delivery, it may seem that “Bad Dates” is destined to continue with too much more of the same.

One couple in the audience left after a few of the initial scenes on opening night. It’s unfortunate if they were disappointed with the off-the-wall tone of the “Bad Dates” opening. It’s unfortunate if they were offended by a relatively small amount of adult language and content.

It’s particularly unfortunate that they left before seeing Jirousek’s character make a remarkable transformation, in which her weird circumstances come into focus and we can see her life, and her teen daughter’s life, in real-life terms.

Director Janet Mitchko maintains just the right pace. Jirousek’s performance draws the audience right into her convoluted life.

Haley has achieved some success in a New York restaurant management career, yet even this reaches into surrealism. It seems the Romanian mafia was using the restaurant as a front for money-laundering operations.

Between Mitchko’s direction and Jirousek’s able performance, it’s easy to forget that one actress is the only person we see. We have no trouble picturing Haley’s encounters with the law professor – who is a blind date courtesy of her mother – and with “the bug man” at a Buddhist fundraising event.

Jirousek has extensive theater credits. She also has appeared in the film “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” and on TV’s “All My Children” and “As the World Turns.”

You would think the duties of costumer for a one-woman show would be quite modest. Not so here. Kathleen Brown pulls together enough shoes and outfits in “Bad Dates” for a JCPenney biggest-sale-of-the-year flyer.

The set design by Adam Klein is simple but effective – a bed in the middle of the room, a walk-in closet (with semitransparent wall so there’s no pause in the action), and a door on the opposite side where Haley occasionally talks with her daughter.

Bart Garvey’s lighting design has some clever touches as the distinctive colors and music of a teenager’s room erupt when the door is opened.

“Bad Dates” was written by Theresa Rebeck. She envisioned “Bad Dates” as a cable TV show with guests doing dramatic re-creations (with alternative endings) of their worst dates, but she eventually developed the project as a one-person play. It opened off-Broadway in June 2003 and has become a regional theater favorite.

This is the Maine premiere of “Bad Dates.”

The original run has been extended to a third weekend of performances and Christopher Schario, artistic director of The Public Theatre, said this show is headed toward being this theater’s top-selling presentation.

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