Even as patrons file in Spooky Action’s basement theater space at the Universalist National Memorial Church, the central couple of the new production “Maple and Vine” are already on stage in bed.
But Em Whitworth’s Katha can’t quite sleep. She’s sitting up, staring into space, continually looking at her phone. She’s caught up in the daily anxieties of work, home life and screen distractions. She’s also still mourning a miscarriage six months earlier.
Her husband Ryu (Jacob Yeh) is sympathetic, but has to catch his own sleep in order to be ready for his long days as a plastic surgeon.
It’s quickly evident they’re a young couple whirling in the isolating spin cycle of modern life: work, home, takeout, work, repeat, with breaks for TikTok and FaceTime and a double latte.
Which made it seem appealing when a snappily dressed man who looks like a poster boy a vintage clothing stop, from his spats to his fedora, suggests a different way: Moving to a gated community where everyone inside acts as if it’s 1955.
Women stay home and make dinner. Men go off to work. No screens. Time to really see another. Such self-directed time travel can have its appeal (especially in fashions). But there are more than a few drawbacks to the good old days, particularly for this pair, who are suddenly considered a mixed race couple because of his Japanese-American heritage. Other closeted couples have it worse.