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Actors Mark Deakins and Nancy Travis sit down for dinner in a scene from playwright Rebecca Gilma

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Randall Arney is director of “Boy Gets Girl,” a disturbing tale of romance turned int

Blind dates. They’re risky, nerve-wracking and incredibly common in a society of singles anxious to hook up with Mr. or Ms. Right. But who’s to blame when a blind date goes terribly, horribly wrong? Opening tonight at the Geffen Playhouse for a six-week run, “Boy Gets Girl” by award-winning playwright Rebecca Gilman is a savvy, contemporary thriller about a date that goes from bad to worse to truly terrifying. Called the #1 Play of 2000 by Time magazine, the all-new Los Angeles production features Nancy Travis, Mark Deakins and James Farentino, and is directed by Geffen artistic director Randall Arney. Gilman, an Alabama native currently based in Chicago, established her reputation for tackling provocative, controversial subjects early on in her career. Her deft handling of topics like racism, serial killers and the pornography industry have earned her a Pulitzer Prize nomination, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. She was the first American to win London’s prestigious Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright in 1999. Arney, previously an artistic director of Chicago’s prestigious Steppenwolf Theater, has been a longtime fan of Gilman’s work. When “Boy Gets Girl” came across his desk at the Geffen, he was immediately hooked. “I started the play and didn’t put it down until I finished it,” he said. “And in this job, I read an awful lot of material. Rebecca’s jumped out at me. I think she’s the real deal.” Gilman’s play, which had its original premiere at Chicago’s Goodman Theater, deals with the objectification of women from both male and female perspectives, using the stalking of one woman by a crazed blind date to examine interpersonal relationships between the sexes. “It deals with how our culture teaches us to relate to each other sexually – how men are taught to relate to women, to expect that the boy always gets the girl,” said Arney. Gilman’s initial inspiration for “Boy Gets Girl” was a sidebar to a New York Times article which listed safety tips for victims of stalking. The column’s suggestions ranged from pruning down house hedges to changing one’s identity. “It occurred to Rebecca that all the advice was for the victim,” said Arney. “That the victim is asked to make all the changes. Women are taught in society, it must be me, it must be something I’ve done.” Although the play deals with very disturbing events, it also contains the witty elements that Gilman refers to as her Mary Poppins “Spoonful of Sugar” philosophy: using humor to lighten a heavy load. “I think that a lot of the subjects I explore could make for some pretty relentless drama,” she recently told Detours magazine. “I think that audiences simply get worn out if they’re not given room to breathe. The proper amount of laughter can diffuse the tension in a play and allow the audience to get ready for the next idea or conflict.” Gilman’s ability to confront difficult issues seem to bode well for her future as a playwright, and according to Arney, for the future of theater in general. “She’s a young, female voice writing plays that are contemporary in their issues,” he said. “This play’s very provocative, but it’s also very urban and hip and a really scary thriller. The theater experience is visceral and exciting, and then after the show when you’re sitting in a restaurant, she’s given you a lot to chew on.”

“Boy Gets Girl” will run through May 11. The Geffen Playhouse is located at 10886 Le Conte Ave. in Westwood. $10 student rush tickets are offered one hour before curtain, subject to availability. Call (310) 208-5454 to reserve tickets or for more information.