While walking on a Cape Cod beach, writer Ben (Matthew Hannon) spots a naked young woman, Tracy (Christine Weatherup), floundering in the sea. He pulls her ashore, and takes her back to his rundown beach house to recuperate — but she’s far from grateful. She wasn’t drowning, she claims, but dancing. Despite the fact that she’s rude, arrogant, selfish and demanding, he’s enchanted, and after some hot chocolate and sparring, they tumble into bed. Dan Nigro’s play starts out as a kooky “meet cute” comedy, then segues into a quietly harrowing portrait of a certain kind of destructive relationship. She’s convinced that no one can love her, and therefore he’ll inevitably leave her. So she constantly threatens to leave him, but never does, and he cares for her enough to endure the pain and uncertainty she inflicts on him. Weatherup’s Tracy is an emotionally volatile woman riddled with conflicts, manipulative, and pathologically self-destructive, while Hannon’s Ben is reduced to pure victim and enabler because of his refusal to fight back. Director Benjamin Haber Kamine elicits persuasive performances from his actors, and keeps the proceedings interesting, though a sharper focus on Ben’s character might have made for a better balance. Studio/Stage, 520 North Western Avenue, Los Angeles; Wed.-Thurs., 8 p.m., Sun. Feb. 21 & 28, 8 p.m.; thru March 5 http://www.sharksanddancer.com/tickets (Neal Weaver)
