There are few places more uncomfortable than a doctor’s office waiting room. The chairs are stiff, the temperature is never right (either bone-chillingly cold or swelteringly hot, no in between), and it’s always overcrowded. No one wants to be there—whether it’s for a check-up, an ailment, or some kind of procedure.
So there’s tension, and potential conflict, built into I’m Revolting simply by virtue of its setting: Gracie Gardner’s play, now in its world premiere at the Atlantic Theater Co., takes place entirely in an outpatient surgical waiting room, where people await treatment for various types of skin cancer.
The doctor, Denise (Patrice Johnson Chevannes, soft-spoken to the point of inaudibility), is precisely the kind of cucumber-cool person you’d want coming at you with a scalpel; her warm smile immediately sets you at ease. As the day goes on, she and her resident, Jonathan (Bartley Booz)—who lacks her bedside manner—pop in and out of the waiting room, explaining diagnoses and procedures to patients such as 19-year-old Reggie (Alicia Pilgrim). “Isn’t this like some old white guy disease?” asks Reggie. She’s also concerned about what she’ll look like post-surgery: “Like am I gonna have a nose at all? I’m picturing Voldemort.”
The happy-go-lucky Clyde (Peter Gerety) is sort of the office equivalent of a frequent flyer, and freely asks everyone else what kind of skin cancer they’ve got. Liane (Emily Cass McDonnell) and her husband, Jordan (Glenn Fitzgerald), have traveled to New York from Ohio for her treatment. He’s angry about being there, or angry at her for getting cancer, or maybe angry that they didn’t choose the more convenient Cleveland Clinic. Former lifeguard Toby (Oklahoma!’s Patrick Vaill) explains that he never wore sunscreen: “I actually feel empowered when I blame myself.”
Oh, his mom agrees. Later, when Paula (Laura Esterman) arrives, presumably to provide moral support, she feels comfortable enough to tell the entire waiting room that “If you have cancer, something you did caused it.” Just wait till she breaks out the crystal singing bowls!
Why the other patients didn’t kick Paula and her bowls out on the street is baffling. But that’s not the most puzzling part of I’m Revolting. Denise and Jonathan are just chatting with patients in front of other patients. Denise is talking to Reggie about a complicated procedure that involves disconnecting her forehead from her nose. No one minds other people hearing their business? HIPAA, anyone?
We actually learn a lot about the characters in only 90 minutes, and Gardner writes smart dialogue—especially for Reggie and her sister, Anna (a criminally underused Gabby Beans). “They can do amazing things. They made Cher,” says Anna of reconstructive surgery. Reggie is nonetheless worried: “I don’t think I can pull off being gay, pretentious, and disfigured.”
Also, who knew Dartmouth had a beer keg for a mascot? You can thank Gardner for that tidbit.
I’m Revolting opened Oct. 5, 2022 at the Atlantic’s Linda Gross Theater and runs through Oct. 16. Tickets and information: atlantictheater.org
