“Smiley” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

The premise is quite lovely and is based on an unlikely happenstance between two homosexual men. Alex believes that he and his lover Barry have had a great encounter and that there is something special about their relationship that needs to be further explored. But Barry has never phoned or texted him back or acknowledged the connection between them after their last rendezvous. So Alex feels the need to leave a sharp voice message in five parts on Barry’s phone to give him a piece of his mind. Alex works at a bar and instead of using his cell phone (whose number Barry would have likely blocked), he calls on the landline from his job. The problem is that Alex has accidentally called a phone number one digit away from the intended number and winds up leaving his messages on someone else’s voice mail. That person happens to be a man named Bruno. Bruno feels obligated to phone Alex back to tell him of his mistake…. But, additionally, Alex’s messages intrigued him, considering that he is gay too. On the strength of their conversation, the two decide to meet at Alex’s bar. Bruno is excited about meeting Alex, but Alex is unimpressed. Alex doesn’t believe that they are compatible, because they are too unlike each other.

The story is told from both Alex’s point of view and Bruno’s, often via breaking down the fourth wall. However, Alex is the only one who undergoes some amount of character development and comes to realize that he doesn’t want a relationship with someone who is too much like himself. But if there’s one fault in this script, it’s that the audience sees something different than what Alex tells us. Alex finds his latest love interest Pablo to be much too similar to himself, and he finds this to be boring. Instead, Alex would prefer to be with someone who’s quite different than he is—like Bruno. But from the audience’s perspective, Pablo is the more unusual character. This proves something beyond the scope of the play: that compatibility has to do with the people who are actually involved as a couple, and nobody can judge this from afar.

Another issue with the show is that it’s somewhat too repetitive. As things currently stand, with the absence of enough character development and a relatively shallow plot, the script should be tightened. Hence, the performance might be better if it were only 45 minutes long rather than 90 minutes.

The acting throughout is excellent, especially on the part of Lopez, who is wonderful as Bruno and maybe five other characters; he can switch from one to another in an instant. In my favorite scene, he flows from one character to the next flawlessly when he plays several of Alex’s love interests. What brilliance! Plus, the simulated sex scenes are done with discretion, a credit to director Jack Dugan Carpenter. The scenic design by Cory Busch is very simple, largely consisting of a bed on stage left and a bar on stage right, demarcating two different locales. I especially liked the use of the structural support pole in the middle of the small black box theatre—as both a means of separating the actors from each other and as a tool to join them together in the pertinent scenes.

A specific audience of gay men would understand and appreciate the references inherent to gay culture, and I liked the touch when Alex and Bruno would break down the fourth wall and explain themselves and their actions to the audience. Especially welcome are the explanations specifically geared to those of us unfamiliar (or barely familiar) with gays and gay culture. In that respect, I found the show educational and yet I do get concerned about the promiscuity, especially among the younger men who came up after the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“Smiley” is the queer equivalent of the tried-and-true romantic formula of “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy meets up with girl again and they live happily ever after.” It’s slightly deeper than that, but not by much. It touches upon the issues of “What am I looking for in a relationship?” and “How do I attract a loving partner?” These thoughts are reflected in the behavior of the characters, who wonder if they should act more coy or more brazen. Ultimately, this is a story about finding love when and where you least expect it. While the play is bound to make you smile from time to time, there’s an obvious sadness inherent when Alex is so unsure of himself and when both he and Bruno are unclear about the status of their romantic attachment. Although the script is fairly predictable after the initial premise, the best part is that there is a happy ending.

“Smiley” is playing through June 21, 2026, at Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson Avenue, in Chicago.

General admission tickets -$30

Students and seniors – $25

Performance schedule:

Fridays and Saturdays – 7:30 p.m.

Sundays – 5:00 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to: https://openspacearts.org/.