In this musical two-hander, exes who agree to meet for a drink get along like oil and water—or in keeping with title—as Oil & Whiskey do. After three years apart, “Him” (Jater Webb) is eager to get back with “Her” (Isabel Stewart). She . . . not so much.
The 60-minute playlet, in the NYC Fringe Festival, is largely sung-through, with Webb accompanying their songs on guitar.
Is he or she, as they sing, really “the one that got away?” She insists “I’ll never fall in love with you again.” He counters: “I think that you should still believe in love.” But would that be—as they toss the refrain back and forth—“with me,” “with us,” or “with somebody else”?
Some of the repartee touches on cliché: She has heard “all the stories you always tell;” though if they reunite, she’s willing to “pretend to be surprised.” They compare themselves to “oil and water,” and to “dark and light,” certain that “we can never turn the page and read the ending together.”
But another exchange may be unique in the long history of bickering couples in a musical. It starts with him celebrating the great sex they had—”especially the makeup sex.” She, however, can’t forget the time he withdrew leaving his condom inside. He doubles down, mansplaining “This damn contraception’s makin’ me lose my erection!”
Finally, he pleads, “Let’s make this the last time we fight.” And it is. They do not get back together.
Webb’s solo guitar accompaniment suits both his voice and the production well: the show originated in Nashville and it’s ostensibly set in Nashville, so the songs have a Nashvillian vibe. Stewart has a particularly clear voice, although at times she projects as though the audience and the theater were far, far larger. They both do their best work in the quieter, more intimate songs. After all, if they were really exes meeting for a drink in a bar, neither would be able to belt.
They inhabit the sentiments and deliver the lyrics so well, and perform the material so effortlessly, you’d think they wrote the show themselves. But in fact Oil & Whiskey was created by Dax Wiley, who wrote the book and lyrics, and Kit Nolan, who composed the music, directed and choreographed the production.
Photo of Stewart and Webb by Liz Guenther
Oil & Whiskey will play again April 18 and 20 at The Rat Theater in DUMBO: 68-117 Jay St., Brooklyn. For times and tickets go to the website.
