by Andrew Martin

It's a great joy, when reviewing an Off-Off Broadway play, to discover both a great new playwright and brilliant ensemble of actors. Only Love Will Do offers all that, and more, in unspeakable abundance. Penned by Walt Stepp and billed as “a straight gay romantic comedy,» and running at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets) through November 28th, it's a unique evening that manages somehow to blend the stylings of Noel Coward at his wittiest and Mart Crowley at his grittiest. Director Lissa Moira has worked single-handed wonders with this piece, and the action never disappoints as it unfolds before us.

Two couples, one straight pair (Liz and Everett) and one gay partnership (Brad and Billy, who now insists on being referred to as William), have a long established friendship and come together for dinner at the gentlemen's apartment; en route, however, Ev's consciousness is rearranged by The Cabbie, a war veteran who makes him see the light about certain personal issues. Both marriages have more than a cupful of troubles; Liz is a mass of contradictions, professing never less than abject love and attraction to Ev while also possessing “Daddy issues” and the need to sleep around with a steady succession of younger lovers. Ev, meanwhile, is consistently and icily indifferent to her needs. Brad likewise has an enormous sexual appetite, viewed by an equally cold Billy who pours his emotions into songwriting as an escape. In the course of this evening, in which the wine flows like a river and the dialogue manages to prove as bitchy as it is riveting, all four are overtaken by the elemental philosophies of The Cabbie. There's a marvelously existentialist quality to the script, nearly Stoppard-esque in fact, in which we basically learn that everything in our live is important and yet somehow utterly meaningless, and the moments of humor are always as poignant as those that stop us in our tracks to pause for deep thought. And more than this, the love between both couples never ebbs for a moment, even through the oft-dubious exchanges between them.

As for the performances herein, nary a one is ever anything less than spectacular. Danny Ashkenasi brings not merely loving but tangibly human and humorous qualities to Billy, as well as a more-than-impressive few turns on the pianno. Louisa Bradshaw as Liz is equally heart-wrenching, as both an actress and when singing the title number (even when grappling with a sectional sofa which proved temperamental on the night of the show). Jason Collins provides the requisite charisma as the oversexed Brad and gives it his glorious all although, and this is a very big although, it's sometimes difficult to believe that he's in love with Billy as the words he speaks in the character might have us believe. As Ev, Richard O'Brien is simply astounding and may be modern theatre's new answer to John O'Hurley both in terms of appearance, manner of speaking, and delectable vulnerability. And in the role of The Cabbie, Robert Homeyer delivers a performance that is never anything less than astonishing; he's suitably dark, endlessly scruffy, deeply intellectual and not simply likable but provocative and heartfelt.

If anything here can be criticized, and there's very precious little, it's that David “Zen” Mansley's set designs run the gamut from theatrical wizardry to unfair cliché. The former is his design of the taxicab, a bright yellow automobile chassis with an Off-Duty sign suspended from above. The latter, unfortunately, is Brad and Billy's apartment, festooned with such stereotypical gay-friendly images as framed posters of Cary Grant and Rock Hudson. His video design, however, is top-notch, as is William Giraldo's handling of the lighting and sound.

Needless to say, Only Love Will Do is one of those rare presentations that only serve to make one very happy to live in New York and be privy to wondrous new works within the theatrical sphere. Your humble writer couldn't possibly more heartily recommend attending. If nothing else, it is guaranteed to launch your personal holiday season with a definitive bang.