Review #2 of 2: Bisexual Sadness by Jarrott Productions
by Michael Meigs

Yes, time passes and we move on. Even theatre time. I first saw Kelsey Mazak in this same space in 2015, where she played Emily the earnest, excited ingénue in Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Unlike so many young actors, she hasn't moved away or flickered out of sight. Kelsey has regularly appeared on Austin stages. Here she is, once again with Jarrott Productions, this time portraying an earnest, anxious young woman of her own age, trying to deal with identity, belonging, and sexuality. Hers is an intensely believable performance, so acute that it makes the heart ache.

 

The opening scene at the bridal shop depicted in an upstage alcove quickly establishes the tugs on Faye's sentiments. She's trying on a bridal gown. She's delighted with it—"It has pockets!" With her is her former flatmate and lover Genevieve (CB Feller). The two are still affectionate despite the breakup of their lengthy relationship. Once that's established and the choice of dress is made, action moves to the principal venue, the comfortable living room that occupies most of the Trinity Street Players' stage. Alex and Faye live together. Christopher Gonzalez as Alex is mild, undemanding, and reassuring.

 

Bisexual Sadness is a leaden title but accurately characterizes the principal concern of the work. As if to validate the subtitle (it's funnier than it sounds), playwright India Kottis gleefully complicates things, loading stresses onto Faye's uncertainities and misgivings. Catherine Woodiwiss as Faye's sister Miranda explodes onto the scene, initially on the phone and then in person. Miranda's a whirl of wild emotion, not only because her husband has left her. Fast talking, changing opinions, leaping from thought to thought, eyes gleaming, Woodiwiss is comic every second she's onstage.

 

 

In contrast, Violet Bolton as her daughter Naomi shows no emotion at all. Bolton's control is almost uncanny, especially for an actor of her young age. Her mother is appalled that the daughter insists on using the pronouns "they/them." The tone of these opening scenes leads one to expect a debate over that decision, but that doesn't happen. Naomi remains withdrawn, unengaged, and indifferent when her mother and aunt try to speak to her. Perhaps playwright Kottis's idea is to caricature "betrayed trad wife and sullen teenager." If so, it works only fitfully. 

 

 

 

 

Faye seeks to accommodate her ex- with a small dinner party, to which she invites Genevieve and Canadian aerialist Lillian, Genevieve's current sometime lover. Here's another caricature. Jacqui Calloway as the exuberanta Lillian makes the most of the opportunity, cheerfully recounting stories of polyamory and sex toys.

 

Fun's over after that. The last half hour of this ninety-minute one-act work is principally Faye agonizing that there's no overlap between her two worlds. She felt welcome, embraced by her lesbian and gay community, but now that she's opted to marry a man, however gentle and thoughtful he may be, she believes they'll be forever excluded. "I truly love you! I wish you were a woman!" Faye's anxiety and compulsion to explore these feelings inevitably make the end scene into a lengthy and somewhat tedious therapy session without a therapist. Alex's patience and concern cannot allay her fears.

 

The impression is that Kotis created a well defined set of characters with the intention of entertaining the audience but then couldn't resist emptying her own personal diary. The ending is flat, with the fiancé couple holding one another on the sofa and Alex reassuring Faye,"We'll have some good years together and see what happens."

 

That's a given in any serious relationship; despite well intended vows, neither partner knows what will come. 

 

I'd have been much more satisfied if the playright had severely edited that final scene and brought other characters back onstage. Characters portrayed by Feller, Woodiwiss, Bolton, and Calloway could certainly have knocked heads and learned from one another, maybe providing some examples and enlightenment to Faye and Alex.

 

EXTRA

Click to view the Jarrott Productions program for Bisexual Sadness

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Bisexual Sadness
by India Kotis
Jarrott Productions

November 5 - 11, 2026

Trinity Street Playhouse, 4th floor of First Austin, 901 Trinity Street

Tickets on sale now!