Schwimmer's chat-room play a real eye-opener

When it comes to Internet sex, the "virtual" sometimes can morph into something all too real. And after breathing in all that numbing, etherlike cyberspace, the look of real flesh -- and the appearance of sickening truths camouflaged by the calculated fictions made possible by technology -- can be intensely painful as well as deeply dangerous.

This is one big lesson learned the hard way by Annie (Allison Torem), the 14-year-old Wilmette high school freshman who is at the center of "Trust." The new play, by David Schwimmer and Andy Bellin, opened over the weekend at Lookingglass Theatre, just as Schwimmer was simultaneously editing a film version of the story featuring a somewhat different cast.

An aptly creepy and very contemporary coming-of-age story (which, in its way, serves as an intriguing counterpoint to the recent film "An Education," which evokes the early 1960s), "Trust" begins as Annie engages in intimate chatroom conversations (and a bit of "sexting") with someone who calls himself "Charlie."

Though a smart, sensitive, athletic girl from a close, well-to-do suburban family, Annie is like many the teenager who harbors some doubts about her body and is hungry for approval, acceptance, flattery and love. Charlie, who initially claims to be just a couple of years older than she, seems capable of fulfilling those fantasies -- at least while he is unseen and texting.

Gradually, it becomes clear that Charlie is years beyond college age. But by then, Annie has agreed to meet him and, despite the shock of just how much older he is, he very skillfully keeps her from running away. It's not long before the two are in a motel room, and before Charlie (a deft turn by Raymond Fox) is being hunted by the FBI as a serial sex offender to be charged with statuatory rape.

Though the play has all the essential ingredients of a Lifetime drama, it is considerably better than that for several reasons. First, there is the presence of Torem, the uncannily gifted 19-year-old actress who made such an indelible mark with her work at Profiles Theatre, and who gives a stage-burning turn here. She is raw and ready and blisteringly honest at every turn.

Also impressive is the way the writers have captured the complexity of Annie's responses to events, and the varying reactions of her family -- including her advertising exec dad (Philip R. Smith), her real estate agent mom (Amy J. Carles), her much-adored college freshman brother (Spencer Curnutt), her kid sister (Marianna Oharenko) and her best friend (Zoe Levin).

Christine Mary Dunford is winningly warm and wise as Annie's social worker/therapist, with Keith Kupferer, Zanny Laird, Morocco Omari and Dorcas Sowunmi completing the cast.

Co-directed by Schwimmer and Heidi Stillman (who even manage to find bursts of humor) with a deft use of multimedia imagery (by Bridges Media) on Dan Ostling's minimalist set, "Trust" keeps you engaged in spite of its mostly paint-by-numbers script. And if you want to see a startling young actress in the early part of what surely will be a major career, catch Torem now.