Early on in Sarah Treem's "The How and the Why," one character announces that her scientific theory is so revolutionary that "it's going to change the way people have sex!" That snippet is just one indication that while biology is the subject of this play, being coproduced by Theatre Unbound and Hennepin Theatre Trust, don't expect a dry academic lecture.
Rather, this is a smart, complicated work that revolves around two equally smart and complicated women. Zelda (Caroline Kaiser) is an eminent scientist in the rarefied field of evolutionary biology, having made her mark decades earlier with her controversial "Grandmother Hypothesis," a theory that purports to explain "the existence of menopause." Rachel (Molly Pach) is a much younger but no less ambitious biologist, with a doozy of a hypothesis of her own. She posits that menstruation is a defense against the toxicity of sperm, a theory that could potentially contradict Zelda's life work.
It's to Treem's credit that this potentially unwieldy subject matter instead crackles with intensity. Why these two women are on stage together is a mystery at first, but as the play progresses it becomes quickly apparent that there's more going on between them than just the dazzling thrust and parry of a good intellectual argument. Secrets, fears and regrets bubble up as the "why" they are debating becomes intensely personal.
Under Shelli Place's crisp direction both actors approach this material with ferocious energy. Kaiser's Zelda projects the sharply honed and hard-won confidence of a professional at the top of her game with wry humor and grace. At the other end of the spectrum, Pach's Rachel is a bundle of frenetic mood shifts, driving impatience, and barely controlled emotions. Together the two present a fascinating study in contrasts.
Treem's thoughtful and provocative play gets a solid production here that ultimately appeals to both the head and the heart.
Lisa Brock writes on theater.
