'The It Girl' by Simpatico Theatre Project

The Fringe-length performance (about an hour — a great length in September, strangely unappreciated the other 11 months of the year) appropriately eschews spoken word in favor of silent film-style dialogue slides, expert silent film pantomime, dance, and even combat. Its dreamlike quality is accentuated by creator/director Brenna Geffers’s creative use of modern pop songs as cognitive dissonance (Cyndi Lauper, Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box,” Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” Lorde’s “Royals,” and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know”), most played on music boxes that add an eerie, childlike feeling to these familiar melodies. Maria Shaplin’s specific, expressive lighting likewise highlights this strange journey through Bow’s life, and that of creator/performer Amanda Schoonover.

The present slips into the past

Schoonover starts by hosting an awards gala to announce the new “It Girl” from nominees who in film and TV play second fiddle or “love interest” to male stars, or, in theater, tackle gender-switched Shakespearean male roles given to women as politically correct consolation prizes.

Then, like Alice through the looking glass, Schoonover becomes Clara Bow.

The transition is cleverly accomplished yet awkward, because we don’t know why a silent film star is relevant. But the connection emerges: Bow became a huge silent film star and celebrity, then was heartlessly dropped by the industry and public once she passed a certain age, suffering a harrowing slide into obscurity and despair.
Schoonover’s petite frame, large expressive eyes, eager smile, and cute ’20s hairstyle all contribute to her convincing portrayal. She acts out Bow’s life as though it’s a silent film, aided by brief biographical notes projected behind her. The conceit allows her to amplify emotions and reactions clearly, despite the lack of words.

She’s joined — but not always helped — by Anthony Crosby as miscellaneous ensemble, dance partner, antagonist, and stagehand, though his frenetic activity often steals focus without providing much insight. Moreover, his long hair and beard distract from the period magic Schoonover and company create so well. Despite his talents, I would gladly trade Crosby’s action for more focus on, and insight into, both Schoonover and Bow.

The present is the point

Schoonover is a Philadelphia theater “It Girl” who has earned deserved acclaim and several Barrymore awards, often for playing troubled teenagers. Her performance last season as Laura in The Glass Menagerie at Act II Playhouse was the most incisive, bold, and convincing I’ve ever seen. But she recently turned 40, and The It Girl confronts the real possibility that she’s aged out of theater’s leading female roles.

Things haven’t changed much for women, certainly not enough, in the near-century since Clara Bow’s rise and fall. Schoonover and The It Girl show that despite rampant cultural resistance, women today can fight back and shape their destinies.

For Naomi Orwin's review of The It Girl, click here.