Plot Points in Our Sexual Development

Theater review by Regina Robbins 

Theo (Jax Jackson) and Cecily (Marianne Rendón) are thirtysomethings who have long known they fall somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum, but haven’t always been sure exactly where. In Plot Points in Our Sexual Development, Miranda Rose Hall’s new two-person play, they reminisce about the erotic milestones of their respective childhoods. Their stories are both highly specific and deeply relatable, ranging from the hilarious (Cecily’s toddler fixation on a lawn jockey) to the mortifying (Theo’s aunt playing a sex-ed audiobook in the car on the way to Hershey Park). Whether adorable or cringeworthy, these moments seem to have laid the foundation for a life-changing love affair between the two—but in spite of all the ways they complement each other, there’s one sensitive area in which they don’t quite fit.

Directed by Margot Bordelon, Plot Points starts out strong; both performers easily disarm the audience as Cecily and Theo trace their paths from grade-school confusion to adolescent anxiety to adult dejection. There’s nowhere for them to hide: The stage is empty except for a pair of chairs and an upstage door that is just slightly cracked, suggesting a room that neither Theo nor Cecily can quite forget is there, however much they try to ignore it. Ironically, the play loses steam once they stop swapping stories and get to the heart of the matter, and its supposed resolution is more like a resigned shrug. Still, the insights it provides into the ever-evolving universe of queer identity will likely send you down your own Memory Lane, no matter where you fall on the x and y axes of the sexuality graph.

Claire Tow Theater (Off Broadway). By Miranda Rose Hall. Directed by Margot Bordelon. With Jax Jackson, Marianne Rendón. Running time: 55mins. No intermission.