Julia Chan plays Margaret, Juan Castano is Edwin (center), and Ryan Spahn is Christian in Ken Urban’s Danger and Opportunity, directed by Jack Serio.
The hazards of embarking on a sexual adventure are weighed up against stagnation in Ken Urban’s Danger and Opportunity. Directed by Jack Serio, this provocative drama invites the audience to dismantle the traditional idea of marriage and take an unexpected journey into love, intimacy, and hope.
Set in a Manhattan apartment in the present, Urban’s play follows Christian (Ryan Spahn) and Edwin (Juan Castano), a married gay couple who, after 10 years of being together, find that their relationship has plateaued. When Christian’s ex-girlfriend Margaret (Julia Chan) from Catholic high school gets in touch after 20 years, Christian invites her for drinks at Edwin’s urging. Margaret appears forthwith, and after two bottles of wine and suggestive conversation, Christian confesses that he has had sexual fantasies about Margaret participating in sex with him and Edwin. Of course, in this anything-goes drama, this fantasy becomes a reality. As the lights dim on the first scene, the trio quixotically go to bed together, and a three-way romance ensues.
Edwin and Christian are surrounded by the audience in Danger and Opportunity at the newly opened East Village Basement.
Although the scenario of three adults having a sex orgy at the drop of a hat seems a bit flaky, it becomes credible for a couple of reasons in this production. First and foremost, the staging of Danger and Opportunity in a hyper-intimate East Village Basement makes it easier to suspend one’s disbelief. Audience members are practically shoulder-to-shoulder with the actors and get the sense of eavesdropping on them in real time.
Second, the convincing acting of Spahn, Castano, and Chan helps to ground those moments that might otherwise appear far-fetched. Consider when Spahn, as Christian, attempts to explain Nietzsche’s doctrine of eternal return to Edwin and Margaret: “We must stand behind what we do because imagine: we might do it eternally.” Spahn intones his words with such conviction that Nietzsche himself would approve. What’s more, Spahn’s mini-lecture on Nietzsche’s doctrine of eternal return sets the tone for the whole drama.
Christian, Edwin, and Margaret make strange bedfellows: Christian, a teacher in a prestigious independent school, will continue to lecture Edwin and Margaret on the finer points of Nietzschean philosophy. Edwin, who works in finance, initially sees Margaret as an interloper but gradually surrenders to her charisma and open-mindedness. And Margaret, a marketing specialist, brings the baggage of her recently failed engagement plus her remarkable resilience.
At first blush, Danger and Opportunity might seem like a hedonistic romp into raw sex. But it slowly transforms into a contemporary love story that makes its own rules, even if they are continually being adapted to shifting circumstances. In fact, Christian addresses the necessity of creating rules for their relationship, allowing Margaret and Edwin to chime in with their own feelings:
Christian: I’ve been reading up on polyamory and throuples.
Edwin: You have.
Christian: Yeah. The articles all talk about setting rules and expectations.
Margaret: In the straight world, kissing someone else isn’t OK when you’re dating.
Christian: I don’t want you kissing other guys.
Edwin: Unless she wants to.
Christian and his husband, Edwin, share a kiss. Photographs by Emilio Madrid.
Although Margaret is first viewed as a “fixer” of Christian and Edwin’s ailing relationship, she is gradually embraced as a person in her own right. What begins as a one-night stand evolves into a physically and emotionally satisfying three-way relationship for them. Indeed, Christian and Edwin eventually ask her to move in, citing it as a practical and desirable arrangement for them. And Margaret does, plunging into the deep end of love.
It's no accident that Chan looks completely at ease performing Margaret: she recently performed on another hyper-intimate stage when she played Yelena in Uncle Vanya, also directed by Serio, in a Manhattan loft. Even so, Margaret is a demanding role, given that Chan must project early on the persona of a sensuous and confident woman and, later, a down-and-out woman trying to rise Phoenix-like from her own ashes.
Spahn is well-cast as Christian, as he effectively integrates the intellectual and emotional layers of his complex character. Castano succeeds by showing the vulnerability of his character Edwin who’s less experienced in love than his husband. (“Christian is my first real boyfriend.”)
Even though the acting is topnotch, it’s the unusual staging that is the most arresting aspect of this 90-minute production. The audience sits in regular chairs lined along the walls of the cozy East Village apartment. From this vantage point, one not only hears what the actors are saying but can feel their voices vibrating through the floorboards.
Despite its many dark moments, Danger and Opportunity is a story of hope. Those theatergoers yearning for a love story of a different stripe staged in a hyper-intimate setting, need look no further than Urban’s new drama about a throuple. It’s a love letter to the imagination.
Ken Urban’s Danger and Opportunity plays through April 25 at the East Village Basement. Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For tickets and more information, visit dangerandopportunity.com.
Playwright: Ken Urban
Director: Jack Serio
Set: Frank J. Oliva
Lighting: Stacey Derosier
Costumes: Avery Reed
Sound: Avi Amon
