Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, February 06, 2009
Play is a bit silly, but still a sweet treat
by WENDELL BROCK
wbrock@ajc.com
When New York socialite Cookie Walsh and her gossipy sidekick Bitsy meet for
lunch in Julia Brownell’s play “Smart Cookie,” their patter is as deliciously devoid
of substance as their low-carb diet.
Bitsy has fond memories of her cocaine-snorting days, when she was a size zero,
and relishes the juicy story about the young woman who had an “abortion
shower,” replete with cigars, tequila and all the things a gal shouldn’t have when
she’s preggers.
If Cookie and Bitsy weren’t so concerned about appearances, you might mistake
them for Patsy and Edina, the over-the-top Londoners from the British sitcom
“Absolutely Fabulous.”
In this zingy Alliance Theatre world premiere, Cookie’s social swirl comes to a
screeching halt when her 16-year-old son knocks up a Spanish exchange student
at his New England prep school.
After the pregnant Ana (Rebecca Blumhagen) refuses to have an abortion, it is
Cookie who does the growing up, and Ana who makes the grown-up decision.
Cookie (played to the hilt by the astonishing Courtenay Collins) discovers you can’
t put a price on love, and by the end of her journey, she doesn’t really care what
others think.
In this daffy and ridiculous world, the most centered character seems to be
Cookie’s almost invisible businessman husband, Kevin (the fine Larry Larson).
The least psychologically evolved is her son Spencer (Blake Lowell). As portrayed
by Lowell, Spencer is a disappointingly one-dimensional portrait of a sulking,
entitled teenager.
As Ana, Blumhagen is lovely and expressive, although her Spanish accent never
sounds fully authentic. Nancy Lemenager’s Bitsy is a hoot, suggesting a petite
blonde version of Megan Mullally’s potty-mouthed Karen on “Will & Grace.”
(Miranda Hoffman’s costumes, incidentally, alternate between uptown glam and
the casual urban look of your typical prepsters.)
The lovely thing about this raucously silly and somewhat uneven play is the way it
turns, finally, on a bittersweet and affecting note. Directed by Jeremy B. Cohen
and revolving on Lee Savage’s slickly designed turntable set, “Smart Cookie”
doesn’t adhere to its formulaic setup nor have a particularly happy ending.
Winner of the Alliance’s prestigious Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition,
this delightful little social satire suggests that Brownell is a pretty smart cookie
herself.