Going With Jenny

Going With Jenny

Round Rock Public Library, 216 E. Main Ave., Round Rock, 512/850-4849, www.penfoldtheatre.org

Through Jan. 30

Running time: 1 hr., 30 min.

The husband and wife in Going With Jenny have a problem. Several problems, really, but the play opens with evidence that the husband is not sexually interested in his attractive wife.

No, he's not gay. He's not even cheating on her. He's just ... bored.

Co-written by the husband-and-wife team of Thomas and Sherry Jo Ward, Going With Jenny hits on something so ordinary that it is overlooked or passed over by many other playwrights who take on marriage as their subject matter: the seven-year itch, that point when married couples wonder if they might be happier if they were unmarried. These two got hitched when they were in college, and now that they have entered the plateau of adulthood, they each wonder what he might have missed.

The wife doesn't seem concerned with that for herself, as it happens. In fact, much of the trouble with this marriage seems to boil down to either pitying the husband or blaming him. Either he wasn't given enough chances to bang other chicks and do keg stands with dudes, or he isn't picking up the slack and contributing to the marriage. She, on the other hand, is just frustrated and lonely, and I detected little wrongdoing on her side. That might or might not be fair or sexist or whatever, but it does hurt the level of drama when it's pretty clear that if the guy gets with the program, the problem's solved. Even Nathan Jerkins, one of the most likable actors in Austin, couldn't quite get this character to the level where I rooted for him as he hid his online porn habit a few scrolls down in the browser's history and sprayed air freshener on his cigarettes.

Disclaimer: I'm a woman. I didn't ask any of the husbands in the audience if they took away the same thing. It's very possible that interpretations might fall along gender lines here.

High marks to both Jerkins and Molly Fonseca for holding their own with the charming but at times modest material. Most of the play comprises monologues in which each partner recounts his or her relationship and dating history, from childhood crushes to the confusion of college dating. The most delightful scenes feature dialogue between the two, and it's too bad the story doesn't allow for more interaction between the characters. The Penfold Theatre Company production also enjoys solid direction from Ryan Crowder and a clever scenic arrangement and lighting design from Aaron Bell, given the unusual venue of the Round Rock Public Library.

Like the husband and wife of its story, Going With Jenny has much going for it. Only, as with a lot of marriages, it could use a little spark – that little something extra to make it more worthwhile.