[In] Greg Kalleres’ thoroughly modern comedy Apropos of Nothing, in its D.C. premiere at the Keegan Theatre, seemingly nice guy Owen casually confesses, clearly to the wrong person, that he’s in love with the wife of his best friend Martin. “It’s nothing,” Owen insists, “a passing phase.”
Owen’s ease about the whole thing is partly the joke, played smoothly throughout by Ryan Sellers, who allows us to see Owen as truthful, and not stupid, even if he seems to sincerely believe that this time bomb he just armed won’t blow up in his and other people’s faces.
Maybe it wouldn’t, if he told someone other than Dave (Dominique Gray), yet another lesson in the dangers of oversharing. But Owen simply can’t not let his feelings flow.
Although, does the lady in question, Lily (Irene Hamilton), love him? Does Lily even know how Owen feels about her? She will, and so will her husband, Martin (Justin Von Stein) — and let’s not forget Owen’s girlfriend Rebecca (Emily Erickson).
Rather than Owen’s bombshell exploding in one mass casualty event, the play progresses … as a succession of consistently funny, tiny explosions. Each affected party gets at least a scene to process and respond to Owen’s earth-shaking revelation. Then comes the fallout.
Through the prism of each character’s distinctly different response to the news, Kalleres lightly probes romance and relationships, dissecting what folks mean by “I love you.”
The sharpest speeches go to a hilariously ranting Lily. Much to Hamilton’s credit — and especially because we hear of Lily quite a bit before we meet her — when she shows up, she’s not what we might have expected her to be as the vaunted object of Owen’s adoration.
She’s realer than that, and deliriously funny, with Hamilton, like Sellers, capturing the off-kilter comic tone that registers from the script to Josh Sticklin’s multi-leveled scenic design.
Erickson’s no-nonsense college professor Rebecca is also fun and full of surprises. Rebecca actually indulges a bit of nonsense from one of her students, persistent puppy-dog Jacob (Drew Sharpe), who, in the play’s opening amuse-bouche, confesses his love for her.
