Two plays, plenty of sparring

The Studio Theatre, downstairs at the Spokane Civic Theatre, tries something different beginning Friday: Two one-act plays, with contrasting themes.

“Graceland,” by Ellen Byron, is about two women waiting outside the gates of Graceland, vying to become its first visitors in 1982. They start out as rivals and become friends.

“Never Swim Alone,” by the caustic Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, is about two male friends who become rivals. They engage in 45 minutes of lighting-fast verbal sparring about which man is smarter, richer, stronger, etc. A woman in a bathing suit acts as the referee.

Or at least, that’s what it’s about on the surface. The story takes some unexpected turns. By most accounts, “Never Swim Alone” defies any easy categorization.

Here’s how critic Jason Zinoman of the New York Times described it following a performance at the 2006 New York Fringe Festival: “A 45-minute triumph of formal experimentation that is slyly witty, unexpectedly suspenseful, timeless as the battle of the sexes and as quick and forceful as a heavyweight’s jab.”

This hyper-speed one-act became a cult hit at the 1999 New York Fringe Festival and was brought back in 2006 by popular demand. Zinoman compared MacIvor to that other bard of bad-boy attitudes, Neil LaBute. MacIvor is prolific and “remarkably consistent,” according to the New York Times.

“About once a year, a tautly written, ingeniously constructed and teasingly mysterious new play emerges with his name on it,” wrote Zinoman.

Yvonne A.K. Johnson, the theater’s executive artistic director, directs “Never Swim Alone.”

The two sparring men are played by George Green, the theater’s director of development, and Luke Barats, of Spokane’s nationally known online comedy duo Barats & Bereta. The woman in the bathing suit, named “Referee,” will be played by Lauren Waterbury.

“Graceland,” the first half of the double bill, promises to have a far different vibe. This one-act comedy features Kathie Doyle-Lipe and Ashley Cooper as Elvis fans camping out at the entrance to Graceland three days before the gates open to the public for the first time.

One woman says she was there first; the other woman begs to differ. Arguments ensue, but in the end, they realize they have plenty in common.

Green, who is directing “Graceland,” says that these two plays both contrast and complement each other.

“There are so many parallels, yet they’re done in such a completely different manner,” he said. “My hope is that people will leave the theater talking about the thought-provoking play (‘Never Swim Alone’), the one which leaves open a lot of questions and doesn’t leave us with an easy resolution. But then they’ll realize that the other play gave us answers to many of these things.”