by
Mindy Kaling & Brenda Withers
Featuring Christie Shane & Molly Mitchell
"Matt
& Ben" is the entertaining and hilarious tale of
best friends Matt Damon & Ben Affleck and the mysterious
inspiration behind writing the Oscar Winning "Good Will
Hunting" from the unique perspective of being played
by women. This is one show you will not want to miss!
Male
posturing
THEATER REVIEW: In 'Matt & Ben,' ladies swagger easily
in title roles
By MANUEL MENDOZA / The Dallas Morning News
What if the screenplay for Good Will Hunting fell mysteriously
from the ceiling and into Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's laps?
Matt
& Ben, a cute, clever comedy that opened at the Dallas
Hub Theater on Friday night in a production by Shane Arts
Theatrical Ensemble Rep imagines their friendship before they
got famous. And there's a twist: The fledgling actors are
played by women.
Christie
Shane as Matt and Molly Mitchell as Ben are so good, it's
hard to think of men in the roles. Playwrights Mindy Kaling
and Brenda Withers designed it this way, and the gender-bent
casting adds an extra layer of theatrics. Ms. Shane and Ms.
Mitchell are free to cut to the core of male posturing because
they don't expect us to take the portrayals literally. That
doesn't mean the acting is broad. In fact, under the direction
of Vanessa Mercado Taylor the gals nail the strutting, the
masked sensitivity, the blue-collar New England accent and
attitude as if playing guys, at least these guys, were easy.
The outfits help, too: Ben in a running suit, ball cap facing
backward; Matt in a plaid shirt and khakis. Clothes make the
man.
As
an hourlong quickie, Matt & Ben makes its points and calls
it a night. Half-eaten bags of Cheetos and empty boxes of
Chinese food are strewn about Ben's apartment as the pair
attempts the lost cause of adapting The Catcher in the Rye
into a screenplay before Good Will shows up as a curse, blessing
or both.
Still,
the play has time for flashbacks to their high school days,
where it's established that Ben's the charismatic, not so
bright one and Matt's talented, smart – and short. There
are also surreal side trips when Gwyneth Paltrow and J.D.
Salinger pay visits, and other celebrities get name-dropped.
The
play's take on the reclusive novelist's mindset is priceless.
Ms. Shane turns his weirdness into a tour de force, and Ms.
Mitchell perfectly captures what could be Ms. Paltrow's pretentious
tics. Framed by the magical arrival of Good Will, these moments
feel like giddy science fiction.
Matt
& Ben is biting without being a hatchet job. The final,
genius twist affirms that hard work and the ability to dream
is what really bears fruit.
