‘Infinite Ache’ Takes a Sardonic Look at Love

SAN DIEGO--He’s needy and nerdy. She’s brainy and picky. Their first date is a dud.

But through an extended dream sequence, we see what their next five decades would be like if they wooed and wed and suffered together all those common dilemmas of money, sex, dual careers, children, family, separation and death.

Such is the easy-access premise of “An Infinite Ache,” which opened Saturday at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage at the Old Globe Theatres complex.

Written by David Schulner and directed by Brendon Fox, “Ache” takes place at a rapid-fire pace in the bedroom that is his, then theirs, then hers, then theirs again--think of a crossbreed between a Neil Simon apartment-comedy and a harder-edged David Mamet drama.

The lines alternately crackle (“I’m lost without you,” says Charles. “Then you need a map, not a relationship,” snaps Hope) and drag (the explications of “what is love?” get longer and less engaging).

As Charles, James Waterston has a kind of everyman, educated-oafishness appeal. His early attempts at seduction fall flat. “I keep telling myself to be mysterious and aloof, but every time I look at you, I turn into me,” he whines to Hope.

Samantha Quan as Hope is sexy and chipper and far more conflicted and interesting than Charles. Late in the play, her emotional turmoil is signified by an interest in the dark queen of pop-lit Joyce Carol Oates.

Charles sets out as a would-be historian and settles for a job in a bank. He tells Hope he moved to Los Angeles because “it’s as far as you can go from every other disappointing place.”

When Charles and Hope are standing, they can get tedious. “Love has fully evolved,” says Charles. “It has to die like the dinosaurs, so it can be reinvented.”

But when they’re horizontal, things are spicier, both physically and verbally.

“Are you happy?” she asks.

“Define happy,” he responds.

And later: “Do you still love me?” he asks.

“In what way?” she responds.

The comedy and the pain of “Ache” comes from its commonality. There is little here that is not part of the basic long-term marriage package.

Which explains why the biggest laugh line of the night may be when Hope, exasperated by a rebellious, mouthy college-age daughter (never seen), suggests: “Let’s move and not tell her.”

“An Infinite Ache”--the line is from a Pablo Neruda poem--is fast--90 minutes--and familiar. If what you want is confirmation, not challenge, then “Ache” will feel good.

As Hope explains, “Love just means you’re worth all your problems.”

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“An Infinite Ache,” at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage at the Old Globe Theatres complex in Balboa Park, runs through June 30. Tuesday-Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets: $35-$45. (619) 239-2255.

James Waterston...Charles

Samantha Quan...Hope

Written by David Schulner, directed by Brendon Fox, scenic design by Yael Pardess, costume design by Holly Poe Durbin, lighting design by Jennifer Setlow, sound design by Paul Peterson.