I SEE YOU @ The Flea
By: Patrick Christiano
The Flea is presenting the World Premiere of I SEE YOU, a smart new romantic comedy by Kate Robin, nicely directed by Flea Artistic Director Jim Simpson
on a simple brightly lit set that revolves, reflecting the banality in our ever turning world. I SEE YOU is an appealing two character study that brings together a stay-at-home dad Jesse, played by Stephen Barker Turner and a neurotic disaster predicting mom Nina, played by Danielle Slavick.
The two parents meet at day care play center, where we never see the children, but only the parents reaction’s to their children and each other. What transpires is a delightfully engrossing look at the psychic and emotional stress of living "on the cusp" of the apocalypse, which to quote the playwright "is sort of where we are."
Jesse is a totally disengaged parent, who crosses paths with Nina, an over reactive mother, at a place where their children are playing. She fears that things are spinning out control and the world, as we know it, is headed for disaster. Everything is dangerous, and she feels people today have lost the art of communication with their heads buried in their electronic devices exposing themselves and others to wireless radiation. She worries about the collapse of civilization.
Robin is returning to The Flea with her second production following "The Light Outside." I SEE YOU is a play that takes a challenging look at all the things that are out of our control in the crazy world we live in today. The playwright seems to be saying once you see you can’t un-see. So many people today simply refuse to look, running on automatic programming by the media and the powers that be. The playwright makes numerous insightful universal comments concerning our plight today, especially the things that are hard to accept and out of our control.
A medical crisis and a sudden hurricane keeps the two of them together. Jesse is forced in his encounter with Nina to take a look at himself and then the world. Nina is the catalyst for his awakening to the stark realties of the real world, and he falls in love with her in the process. An intimacy between them develops.
When their relationship becomes consensually illicit, Jesse feels compelled to confess his love for Nina to his wife, while Nina does not feel the same overwhelming need to reveal their affair to her husband. She claims he is her first affair, but we are left uncertain if this is true, or if Nina will integrate Jesse into her life, or simply discard him.
This well acted two-hander features a design by Kyle Chepulis (Set), Brian Aldus (Lighting), Claudia Brown (Costumes), and Janie Bullard (Sound).
I SEE YOU opened at The Flea Theater, located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, on November 17 for a limited engagement through December 21. The performance schedule is Tuesday-Saturday at 7PM, Saturday-Sunday at 3PM; except November 25-30. For more information or for tickets call
The Flea Theater continues its commitment to creating theater that is accessible to all. Every production at The Flea will have a limited number of $15 tickets available on a first-come-first- served basis. We also will be continuing with our Pay What You Can performances on Tuesday nights upstairs at The Flea. Pay What You Can tickets are available one hour prior to performance.
Photography: Hunter Canning
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