Boy Gets Girl

Theresa, a bright, young and unattached career woman, somewhat reluctantly, decides to go on a blind date. Then, when she finds the man she meets not all that interesting, she tries to excuse herself from further possible encounters with him; in her mind treating the episode as though it never happened. However, to her surprise and growing irritation, this brief and forgettable date seems to have consequences which turn into something not only unexpected and bigger, but also highly unpalatable. She becomes enmeshed in events which become menacing, and which she does not know how to fight. Within short weeks, Theresa is feeling trapped and horrified.

Rebecca Gilman turns what could have become an expected love-will-triumph-at-the-end theme into a thriller and cautionary tale that has little to do with any romantic view of love. Gilman shows her modern-day heroine as a full human being who, despite being seemingly savvy and cool, unwittingly places herself in a situation which could destroy her. Gilman gives Theresa’s plight great probing sensitivity. In fact, it has become one of the leading themes of the author’s plays (such as "Spinning Into Butter," "The Crowd You’re In With") to depict highly intelligent, educated women who try to find their way of moving through a shifting social landscape of the contemporary world, but who so often stumble in their quest.

"Boy Gets Girl" was included in the "Time" List of the Best Plays of the Decade.