“Gruesome Playground Injuries,” playwright Rajiv Joseph’s darkly comic two-hander, is an exercise in indulgence. … So consider it a success that Keegan Theatre’s engaging revival — starring Irene Hamilton as the chronically ill Kayleen and Jimmy Bartlebaugh as the gleeful daredevil Doug — mostly works despite the uneven material. As the eight scenes catch up with these unlucky soulmates through the years, following various injuries and maladies, Joseph unspools an episodic rumination on how misery truly does love company.
That unwieldy structure serves up inherent pacing issues as scene transitions call on the actors to constantly change costumes and apply bloody makeup. That said, directors Susan Marie Rhea and Kurt Boehm solve that problem as best they can by turning those interludes into an opportunity for the actors to sweetly frolic on Josh Sticklin’s playground set. (It’s an improvement on the stilted transitions from last fall’s off-Broadway revival, which starred Kara Young and Nicholas Braun.)
Then there are the compelling performances. Hamilton masters Kayleen’s standoffish flirtation. Bartlebaugh expertly plays Doug as a free spirit who can’t help but eventually break. Together, they prove well balanced — like two sides of a seesaw.
