There are boyfriends and girlfriends, and then there is Zip and Rose. In Michael Davidson’s play, Zip (Davidson is a young man who spent his entire life loving someone from afar and Rose (Kate Fournell) is a seize-the-day type of woman who hates being without a boy. Both are very perfect foils for each other, and in some ways so very different. At one point Rose tries to teach Zip the lyrics to a Japanese pop love song. She sings it flawlessly and with heart and he fumbles through, and soon you realize the song is symbol for the communications barriers in their relationship. Zip has spent so long longing for Rose he forgot to start focusing on his own life, and Rose spent so much time focusing on other men and designating Zip as the fix-it man when they things don’t work, she forgets how to be independent. Both use the other as a crutch, and it’s a relationship that can’t end well. Still, the journey is heart-felt and may leave a little choke in your throat in the final scene. Fake Life is remarkable mature look on love blinds us to what we truly need to go forward and live our real lives.

Four out of five stars.