The Rhodes Theater Guild recently put on a performance of “Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Rajiv Joseph. Directed by Josh Ortega ’20, and starring William McLain ’20 as Doug and Cameron Crawford ’19 as Kayleen, this two-person play shows snapshots of moments between Kayleen and Doug throughout their lives together in non-chronological order. The play deals predominantly with the concepts of self-harm and interdependency throughout the pairs lives, but also shows simpler more tender moments as well.

The fictional pair met as children in the nurse’s office, Kayleen sick and Doug injured on account of his own stunts and began a tenuous friendship. From there the two grow closer. Doug believes that Kayleen’s touch heals him, that it even brings him out of a coma. It is not clear whether this results in, or is a result of, his expressions of possessiveness and borderline idolatry toward her.

Meanwhile, Kayleen suffers and turns to self-harm, which only increases in severity as the time goes on. The two cross paths throughout their lives in varying stages of decay, each time seeming to arrive when or after the other needed them. The play ends as tenuously as it begins, with an uneasy status quo forming between the two. Doug, now wheelchair bound, is content to be where he is and no longer needs healing, and Kayleen finally is well enough to continue in whatever dance the two having been performing all their lives.

The play itself was well produced, with both McLain and Crawford breathing life and believability into their characters. The set, designed by Natalia Dobrowolski ‘19, was minimalist, with little more than two beds, two walls, the occasional chair, and some multi-use blocks. The set mirrored the characters: changing from scene to scene yet constant in essence. Overall “Gruesome Playground Injuries” was thoroughly enjoyable to watch and seems to signify great things to come in this Rhodes Theatre season.