‘Jack and Jill,’ a romantic roller coaster ride

Tom Titus

Few undergraduate theater programs allow their advanced students

the degree of creative freedom offered by Orange Coast College. And,

more often than not, this artistic liberty culminates in a memorable

experience, such as “Oleanna” a few seasons ago.

This is the prevailing atmosphere in OCC’s Drama Lab Studio, where

two gifted drama students -- Angel Correa and Angela Lopez -- square

off in Jane Martin’s acerbic romantic comedic drama “Jack and Jill.”

The pair also share directorial responsibility, planting their

artistic stamp squarely on a most impressive production.

Like Terrence McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,”

the two characters “meet cute,” using their first names as

introductory tools. And, as in that play, Jack does most of the

pursuing with Jill attempting to avoid commitment.

These characters, however, are on a far higher intellectual plane

than the restaurant workers in the McNally piece -- which may prove

their undoing, given their predilection toward analyzing their

relationship to the point of antagonistic frustration. Martin borrows

from the cerebral craftsmanship of Jules Feiffer and Woody Allen to

establish the verbal ping-pong between the pair before raising the

emotional bar.

This is heady material, and not recommended for the novice drama

student, but Correa and Lopez -- who have impressed at OCC in the

past -- use “Jack and Jill” as a virtual master’s thesis in acting

and directing. Both render superlative performances.

Correa initiates the romance in a series of missteps and

incomplete sentences, drawing Lopez’s character -- who employs a

similar speech pattern -- into romance despite her misgivings. From

this point, the pair undergo the emotional ups and downs in

fast-forward mode, falling in love, marrying, divorcing, discovering

one another two years later and reconnecting but still lugging their

emotional baggage.

Lopez portrays her medical student character with an antiseptic

view of romance, plunging into it, then just as quickly withdrawing

for fear she’ll lose emotional control. And control is No. 1 on this

lady’s list of priorities -- to the point that she lays down the

ground rules for sex before they’ve barely kissed.

That the characters undergo an about face in the second act is

hardly surprising, but the determination in Correa’s character not to

get hurt again requires some mental acclimatization, given his

passion for Lopez in the earlier scenes. It’s clear that these people

love and need one another. Whether they can stand prolonged happiness

is open to question.

Martin has structured her play to avoid the time-consuming

costume-change breaks offstage by adding a half-dozen

dressers/property people who come on and off with the needed prop or

clothes and assist in the changing process.

These invaluable assistants are Katie McGuire, Heather Layton,

Mary Acuna, Michael Cavinder, David Reider and Take Yamagaki.

And, while the play is presented in OCC’s tiny Drama Lab Studio,

there’s no shortage of atmosphere -- the whirling lights for a formal

dance, a realistic rain effect. Correa and Lopez have covered all the

bases in formulating a highly impressive production.

“Jack and Jill” stands with the earlier “Oleanna” as a sparkling

example of student talent and ingenuity. Its actor/directors, Correa

and Lopez, have done themselves, and OCC, proud.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His

reviews appear Thursdays and Saturdays.