Gurnet’s ‘Self-Defense’ is absolute ‘Essential’ viewing

REVIEW. In lesser hands, Anthony Rapp’s “Essential Self-Defense” could easily come off as yet another play about bored, fearful, lonely twentysomethings who think they’ve cornered the market on this condition.

Fortunately, fledgling  troupe Gurnet Theatre Project found this script. Under the impressively attentive eye of director Brian Fahey it is a delight to watch.

In Rapp’s slightly off-kilter boy-meets-girl story, the boy is Yul, an angry, seemingly down and out young man who lives in a rat-infested basement where he carries out a mysterious experiment with eggs, while spewing anarchistic rhetoric at lightspeed. The girl is Sadie, a seemingly normal  karaoke fan who works in children’s book publishing.

The couple meets in a self-defense class where Yul earns his keep as a human punching bag. Sadie accidentally knocks his tooth out while wrestling with her own demons. While trying to make reparations for the missing molar, she surprisingly falls for the frighteningly eccentric outcast.

As their unusual courtship unfolds, the townspeople suspect Yul is responsible for the ever-increasing number of teens disappearing without a trace. The duo must also contend with Klieg the Butcher, an angry drunk with a penchant for karaoke and throwing raw meat around. Klieg also has the strongest right hand in the world.

Fahey smartly focuses on the piece’s quirky, unconventional humor and the result feels like a “Twin Peaks”/“Northern Exposure” hybrid. There’s a live band for original karaoke, a roller skating dream sequence,  meat cleaver duel to the death and appearances by a meek librarian who spends her nights as a foul-mouthed, über-sexy singer/karaoke hostess.

And it happens almost effortlessly. Adam Garcia nicely captures the freakishness of Yul while giving him a vulnerable likeability. Chelsea Cipolla also shines as Sadie, the perky girl with issues of her own. And librarian/singer Sorrel Haze will make you laugh ‘til it hurts thanks to Rachael Hunt’s impeccable comic performance.

At the center of this maelstrom of quirky humanity is really just a bunch of lonely people trying to not be so alone. It’s the folks from Gurnet who make them worth watching.

‘Essential Self-Defense’
Through June 28
BCA Black Box
539 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Orange Line to Back Bay
$18-$25, 617-933-8600
www.bostontheatrescene.com