By RYAN WELTZER
The State News – October 26, 2001
“Spike Heels” is a romance, but it’s certainly no “Snow White.”
The play started Thursday and continues at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday at the Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St. in Old Town Lansing.
“There are certainly elements of a modern-day love story,” director Jeff Croff said. “There’s certainly no princes or princesses riding off into the sunset.
“It’s a very honest and riveting story of modern-day romance and interaction.”
The play is about a girl named Georgie who comes from a rough part of town. She moves in above Andrew, a very proper professor. Andrew sets Georgie up with his lawyer friend Edward, who sexually harasses her.
From there, the plot tangles itself in a complex relationship story. Actor Kevin Knights, an accounting clerk in the Administration Building, said the script goes beyond a love triangle. Instead, it’s a love circle.
Knights plays Edward, who is accused of harassing Georgie, but doesn’t understand why.
“Underneath it all he really is a nice person, but he doesn’t show it very well,” Knights said. “He’s also a character that is afraid of having real feelings.”
Unlike classic romance, the characters of “Spike Heels” play a game that is all too real.
“The biggest message that comes out of it is the complexity of relationships - what you’ll put up with and what you won’t put up with,” Croff said.
Bobbi Burns, who plays Georgie, said she finds very little in common with her character, but admits that at times, she wishes she had Georgie’s straightforward attitude.
“In certain ways, Georgie is the way that I wish I was sometimes,” she said, stressing “sometimes.”
Burns said she found this play challenging partly because of the relaxed dialogue.
“It sounds like people are just walking up on stage and having a conversation,” she said.
Croff said the script, by Theresa Rebeck, is well-written because of the depth each character is given.
“Theresa Rebeck doesn’t write black and white characters, she writes with an astounding display of black and white,” he said.
Croff is also a co-founder of Icarus Falling, the company that is producing “Spike Heels.” Icarus Falling is a local organization in its second year of production. Last year, it put on three plays in the Lansing area.
“The goal is not to put on a production, but to put on cutting-edge theater,” he said.
Before you go, make sure to call a sitter for the kids, because this play is intended for mature audiences.
