Completeness is an ironic title since the characters are notably incomplete.
This 2011 play by the talented Itamar Moses is newly revised and is directed by Matt Pfeiffer for Theatre Exile in Philadelphia. Pfeiffer, coincidentally, co-starred in an earlier play by Moses, The Four of Us, which explored an imperfect friendship between two young men in a staging by 1812 Productions.
Moses is currently represented on Broadway as bookwriter for the Tony-winning musical The Band’s Visit.
In Completeness, we see Elliot (James iJames) who is an assistant professor of computer science, and Molly (Mary Tuomanen) who is a graduate student of biology. These super-bright intellectuals meet at a computer cluster in a university library and discover a complementary scientific project. And they tumble into bed together. But they, and we, encounter flaws that prevent any long-term relationship.
He has anxiety about his inability to commit, and she complains about repeating her past mistakes.
The tragedy is that they are incapable of overcoming these problems despite their braininess. More to the point — they are incapable of emotional intimacy precisely because of their obsession with intellectual analysis. We see that intellect alone is incomplete, and unsatisfying.
There’s a limit to a cerebral approach. Intellectuals are likely to think they can analyze their way through all problems, that they can figure out all obstacles; therefore they’re less likely to ask for help, and to involve their friends or partners.
This is an interesting proposition, and Completeness explores the topic entertainingly.
Moses has his people speak in an appealing natural way and they are convincing as academicians of their generation. He also supplies witty repartee. Elliot offers (in fact, he’s eager) to devise a data-mining algorithm to solve Molly’s experiment about the binding of yeast proteins. The playwright flatters us in the audience by articulating complex concepts without dumbing down the language. And iJames and Tuomanen are credible as they propound scientific theories.
I heard comments that the characters talk scientifically at too great a length, but that’s exactly the point. Instead of speaking tenderly, or revealing their feelings with body language, Elliot and Molly avoid emotion by talking about science. Frequently they break off their scenes in bed to go to the bathroom, or to expound on an academic problem. Tuomanen and iJames are two of the very best actors in the Philadelphia theater community, so I must conclude that an intentional choice was made as their sex scenes have a matter-of-fact tone, with little sensuality. Literally, all that matters to them are facts.
Their most-recent unsatisfactory lovers are played by Claire Inie-Richards and Justin Rose who also appear as a series of future lovers. The play’s eighth scene is a daisy chain of shifting relationships, similar to Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde or Michael John LaChiusa’s musical Hello Again. It illustrates the likelihood that these young people will continue to repeat their behaviors. This dismays us in the audience, because they’re so intelligent. And it hits home to me, because I have been described as an intellectual.
So has the playwright. Moses says that he relates to such a conundrum: “The play is emotionally biographical, but not literally so.”
Despite our analytic proclivities, I hope that neither I nor the playwright have been as tone-deaf as the male character in this play who never is able to shut up and allow himself to feel, let alone to recognize his partner’s feelings. (The woman has the same problem, but I’m experiencing this from my personal point of view.)
Near the end of Completeness is a scene which breaks into the action and seems, at first, to be an accident. It actually is a palette-cleanser which reminds us that nothing — not in the play, nor in life — proceeds exactly as planned. It echoes one of Molly’s lines, “So is there really a way to know, up front, for sure?”
Pfeiffer’s direction is brisk and clear. The set by Colin McIlvaine, after a design by Darcy Scanlin, is a perfect metaphor, being a modernistic lightbox with walls that resemble a circuitboard.
Through December 23, 2018. For more information, see http://www.theatreexile.org/episodes/completeness-itamar-moses.html. Itamar Moses will attend a special post-show discussion at the Friday, December 21 performance.