Review: Stage Door Theatre’s ‘Bad Dates’ is like a late-night conversation with your single friend

Good news, Atlanta theater-goers: your next date night show has arrived. That show is Bad Dates, Theresa Rebeck’s one-woman show about the trials and tribulations of modern dating. Running through February 22 at Stage Door Theatre, this Valentine’s confection is mostly sweet, with some hints of bitterness and a surprising twist that is likely to leave audiences chuckling as they leave.

Bad Dates features Hayley Walker (Marcie Millard), a single mom and successful restaurateur who decides to get back on the horse and start dating again after several years of singlehood. With no other characters onstage, we sit with Hayley as she goes through the arduous process of picking out outfits, getting ready for her dates, dealing with snark from her off-stage teenage daughter and inevitably returning from her dates disappointed.

Rebeck’s script is simple and tight, effectively conveying Hayley’s runaway trains of thought as she lets the audience in on her multitude of anxieties. There is also a grounded realism to each date, as if Rebeck is pulling from her own experience or the experiences of those around her. Each one is bad enough to be comedic but still feel like experiences many audience members have probably had themselves.

Of course, as the only person on stage for the entire runtime, the play rests squarely on Millard’s shoulders, and she carries the whole affair off with a great degree of charisma. Her Hayley is an immediately engaging presence, fast-talking and neurotic with a witty intelligence and a hopefulness that the audience cannot help but share. In her hands, the 90-minute piece feels less like an extended monologue and more like one of those late-night conversations you have with your friend while splitting a bottle of wine.

Millard also pulls off a delicate tonal balance — that is, for the play to work, we must sympathize with Hayley enough to want her search for love to succeed while also finding her misfortunes funny. Millard accomplishes this balance by playing Hayley with a determined optimism and sarcastic verve that keeps the play humming while letting her guard down just enough for the poignant beats to land.

Director Amy Duffy helps keep the play moving at a nice clip by giving Millard plenty to do. Whether she is trying on her 30th pair of shoes, throwing on accessories or putting her hair into curlers, the character is hardly ever stationary for longer than a few lines, which further emphasizes the anxious energy that comes with getting ready for a date.

The design team has also provided a lovely space for Millard to play. The entire production takes place in Hayley’s bedroom, and the set is strewn with discarded clothes and shoes of all shapes and colors — the well-recognized shrapnel of first date preparations. Set designer Justin Ball and props designer Caroline Cook do an excellent job of making the space feel lived in, with bookshelves and nightstands bursting with personal items and knickknacks. And costume designer Sydni Stephenson provides a number of outfits for Hayley to cycle through in her mania. Being that the location is mostly static, lighting designer Lindsay Sharpless doesn’t have much to do but finds some small opportunities to create clear tonal shifts by bringing the lights in closer whenever Hayley shares a more intimate detail. 

There is little that is groundbreaking about the story. In fact, it has a rather 2000s rom-com feel to it, complete with an ending message about looking past people’s exteriors and rejecting shallowness. There is one moment toward the end where it seems as though the plot is about to go very unexpectedly off the rails, but Rebeck rights the train quickly for a satisfying conclusion. Save for a subplot involving the Russian mob, it’s all rather conventional — but also undeniably charming. Anyone looking for a palatable night at the theater or something to do on a first date will find plenty to enjoy. 

Where & When 

Bad Dates is at Stage Door Theatre through February 22. Tickets, $32.
5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road.

::

Luke Evans is an Atlanta-based writer, critic and dramaturg. He covers theater for ArtsATL and Broadway World Atlanta and has worked with theaters such as the Alliance, Actor’s Express, Out Front Theatre and Woodstock Arts. He’s a graduate of Oglethorpe University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and the University of Houston, where he earned his master’s.