A lot to "like" in "The Scene" at Hartford Stage Company

HARTFORD - Is saying 'like" still a totally cool way to like, talk these days? Because if it is, then "oh-my-god" nothing much has changed in at least two decades.
That’s how fresh-faced 20-ish Clea, six months of the bus from Ohio, communicates with everyone and anyone who will listen in this taught, tight, cleverly realized production of "The Scene" at the Hartford Stage Company.
Clea, played in perpetual motion by Christy McIntosh, is the "scene machine," with as much ambition as cleavage. is one quick study when it comes to meteoric upward mobility in that lipstick jungle known as New York City.
She may talk like a total ditz, but never underestimate the power of youthful ambition without a shred of introspection.
She meets Charlie and his friend Lewis, played by Matthew Arkin and Liam Craig at a party. Charlie is an out-of-work actor, and Lewis is his friend who has a thing for the blonde Clea.
Clea says she "so doesn’t drink" because her mother is an alcoholic, but it doesn’t take much to get her to inhale some vodka. She appears out of control, but really is the coolest most calculating character of them all.
What she has is backbone - something the down and out Charlie clearly lacks.
When Charlie mocks her, Clea makes it clear she will not be intimidated by saying, "I will not be treated like a stupid person" - Not bad for hick from Ohio.
Charlie, played with determined hostility and self-loathing by Arkin, is married to a successful high-strung businesswoman named Stella, played with the requisite "perfection" by Henny Russell.
They are ostensibly working on adopting a baby from China, but really it is Stella who is doing all the leg work, while Charlie is feeling none to good about his prolonged unemployment.
The crazy world of appearances looms large in this sharply written show by Theresa Rebeck.
It really all boils down to time, sex, and money. Charlie has too much of the first, not enough of the second, and none of the third, while his wife Stella has just the opposite - she makes tons of cash, but has no time for Charlie, and no energy for sex. A combustible combination just waiting for a catalyst in Clea.
Charlie observes, "Rich people’s apartments are so comforting," then asks, "Why is it that real art makes real people feel fake?"
Meanwhile Charlie reads a television pilot outline from his former school chum Nick, who is "a skinny skull version of what he used to be." Charlie comments that the rumored pilot is "so unredeemably awful" that it is probably true.
The question Charlie deals with is how much is he willing to compromise his principles onto the auction block, and kiss up to people like Nick, who represents everything he hates, in order to get a part in a play.
This show is for mature audiences only, with some sexual situations and a liberal amount of profanity.
The slick sets by Kris Stone transition from a rooftop, to the living rooms of Charlie and Stella, and Lewis, and then to Clea’s bedroom.
They slide smoothly in and out of view, with the skyline of New York City, featuring the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, forever in the background.
The lighting by Robert Wierzel uses well-time spotlight exclamation points that grind scenes to a screeching halt at crucial times.
The story examines the pace of life today, and how uncool it is to seek enlightenment and self-knowledge an idea that used to have some integrity, but seems somehow at odds in the material world.

Three Stars
Theater: Hartford Stage Company
Location: 50 Church Street, Hartford
Production: By Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Jeremy B. Cohen. Scenic design by Kris Stone. Costume design by Miranda Hoffman. Lighting design by Robert Wierzel. Sound design by Lindsay Jones. Production manager Bryan T. Holcombe.
Running time: About 2 hours, with one intermission
Show Times: Tuesday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday April 20 at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Sunday and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. through May 4.
Tickets: $23 to $64. For further information call their box office at 860-527-5151, or visit their website a www.hartfordstagecompany.org.

ACTOR...CHARACTER
Christy McIntosh ... Clea
Liam Craig ... Lewis
Matthew Arkin ... Charlie
Henny Russell ... Stella