What I liked
Strong script and cast. Truly impressive physical body movement/interpretive dance in place of simulated sex.
What I didn't like
Likely a victim of limited rehearsal in the space, some sound cues could have been tighter. The show could have used perhaps a couple fewer Trump/current events references – the themes of the show are evergreen, and while often funny (the Melania one is a critical component to one scene), I worry their presence will unnecessarily date the show in future productions.
My overall impression
In a premise that could have easily veered into too broad cliché, Suttle delivers a compelling, nuanced ethical quandary of a play, one where the cold, uncaring demands of capitalism seemingly demand a total surrender of personal comfort and integrity. The script shines in finding tortured empathy in each of its characters, smartly avoiding the impulse to make its indie producer power player a sinister figure or the central couple members of the Hollywood exploited. Every member of the four-person cast shines, but Kelly Rook Daly in particular shines as a sort of show business Lady Macbeth. Raymond Suttle pulls triple duty as writer-director-actor, offering a heartbreaking portrayal of a man aware of his own vicious cycle but unable to break it despite his vast resources. Everybody wants something in Yes. No. Maybe., yet in completing the devil’s bargain at the center of its conflict, the show refuses to pander to obvious, black & white moralizing. It exists in an unnerving gray area, one that will likely sit with me for as long as I work in the film industry.
