A frustration I have with romantic comedies is their plots too often hinge on failures to communicate. Writers frequently deploy deflections, white lies and veiled resentments to create character-conflict that serves as a narrative pivot.
I too often find myself wanting to scream: “Just talk to each other!”
But breakdowns in communication are a feature, not a bug, in the brilliant script for Smiley, running through June 21 at Open Space Arts (OSA). Spanish playwright Guillem Clua’s story of two lonely men traversing the hyper-competitive gay dating scene in contemporary Barcelona shows that smartphones, dating apps and social media—all intended to make our lives easier—just serve as stumbling blocks to honesty, open communication and healthy self-image.
The plays starts with a long monologue as Alex (Seth Kobs) leaves a voicemail for a suitor who’s been ghosting him. He’s at the end of his rope, indicting the other man for a long series of indignities perpetuated not just by him but numerous other men Alex has met online. Kobs knocks it out of the park in this opening; Alex’s frustrations come across without the character sounding petty or selfish.
The trouble is Alex has left the voicemail at the wrong phone number.
Enter Bruno (Ayden Lopez), the accidental recipient of the call. Intrigued, he phones Alex back. They develop a tense rapport but agree to meet in person. It’s not quite love at first sight; despite the longing for companionship he showed us in that first scene, Alex immediately writes off Bruno for not being his type.
Thus Alex’s real conundrum comes to the fore: He sees himself as being at the mercy who men who date him, then leave. But he’s just as much at the mercy of unreal expectations.
That initial meeting is only the beginning of a tumultuous relationship. Despite not liking each other too much, Alex and Bruno have terrific sex. But they still try to part ways, and Alex embarks on a new set of relationships as Bruno bides his time; each of Alex’s new suitors is played by Lopez as well.
This endearing story—a quintessential “Pride Month” play if there ever was one—is expertly staged in OSA’s limited space. Director Jack Dugan Carpenter knows how to keep the audience’s attention even if the first several minutes of Smiley is Alex leaving a voicemail. When they’re supposed to be on the telephone, Carpenter plants the actors at times on opposite sides of a phone cord or a pole in the middle of the aisle, bringing to mind the split-screens at once denoting the closeness and distance between Doris Day and Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk.
There may be few surprises in the outcome of Clua’s script, which was adapted as a Netflix series in 2022, but who goes to a romantic comedy for surprising outcomes? Alex and Bruno entertainingly break the fourth wall often, helpfully describing gay-dating rituals and technology for the straight folks in the audience (There seemed to be about two such straight folks in the audience I watched the play with).
Kops and Lopez have terrific chemistry. These two fine actors, not to mention a great story and Carpenters’s energetic direction, will probably make you leave Smiley with (sorry, I have to say it) a smile on your face.
Smiley runs through June 21 at Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson Ave. See here for tickets and information.
