Brief Encounters

Title: Curtain Up
Author: Spencer Rook
Length: 48 pdf pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: m/m contemporary romantic comedy
Rating: D+

Blurb:

Theater major Erik Waite hasn’t acted in almost a year, and money is tight. So when his friend Michelle offers him a role in her new boyfriend’s musical, Erik accepts, even though it sounds rather dicey. The rehearsals are pure chaos, but Eric is delighted to learn that his high school crush, Phillip, will be playing the lead.  Unfortunately, Phillip’s controlling mother is playing his romantic interest, and she isn’t about to let anyone get too close to her son – especially when it appears Phillip may return Erik’s interest.  It will take a plan of epic proportions to give Eric the chance to star in his own love story.

Review:

A fun and farcical story, that unfortunately just had too many plot holes and clichés for me to award a higher grade.

I have a weakness for theatre stories and comedy, so I had high hopes for Curtain Up, author Spencer Rook’s debut published story. Told from young Theatre arts graduate Erik Waites’ point of view, it tells of how he gets involved in a third rate local production of a new play with the express intention of getting to spend time around his high school neighbour. Erik had a crush on Phillip at the time and the attraction hasn’t diminished, but unfortunately Erik is just a chorus boy and Phillip is playing the leading man… opposite his controlling harridan of a mother.

I’ll begin with what I enjoyed: Erik is a sweet character. He has a rather blasé approach to life and doesn’t worry about anything, relying on his cute looks and natural charm to get him out of any sticky situations. His friendship with the more abrasive Michelle came across well, and they seemed like a perfect pair. The story is written competently, and there were moments that made me chuckle. I particularly enjoyed the vision of Erik playing an angel in nothing more than wings and a pair of tight briefs!

However, the story was riddled with implausible developments that threw me out of the story. The first was why on earth Erik wouldn’t leap at the chance of being in a production, considering that he is currently unemployed, struggling financially, and loves the theatre. He doesn’t seem to be in a position to turn his nose up at this opportunity, even if it is just a chorus line role. I also had to wonder why he wasn’t living somewhere near a decent theatre if he wanted to make a career out of acting, but perhaps this was just a reflection of his tendency to drift through life.

There were more inconsistencies, however. Erik acts like he’s never seen the theatre before, when it’s in the locale he grew up in. I just couldn’t believe a kid with an interest in the dramatic arts wouldn’t have checked out the local theatre! Then he fails to recognise Phillip’s mother, despite having lived opposite the family for several years.

Couple these plot holes with some rather clichéd passages (describing himself as seen in a mirror, a sexy interlude which turns out to be a dream), and the fact that I just couldn’t feel any sympathy for mummy’s boy Phillip, and you’ll see why I just couldn’t award a higher grade. Phillip’s mother was a truly dreadful mother-in-law cliché herself, although she was comic relief at times. I was particularly irritated that Erik doesn’t describe Phillip’s appearance, simply saying that he “would never be able to use the right words to describe the boy”. This wasn’t good enough – I wanted to know what he looked like!

In short, if you’re looking for a comic, theatre based story and don’t mind tripping over a few plot holes then you might well enjoy this. Mostly, I just feel a sense of missed opportunity. Curtain Up could have been much better if it had a more thorough content edit, and I think Spencer Rook’s writing has real promise. I’ll be looking out for future offerings from the author, and hoping he gets a better editor next time around.

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