Acting class is in session

The staccato-paced scene changing of Tanya Barfield’s Bright Half Life suggests an advanced acting class exercise in which students on a nearly bare stage (substantial sets aren’t really necessary in this one) are compelled to change attitudes and emotions on a dime. The effect can be entertaining or exasperating depending on one’s tolerance for and appreciation of this whirlwind theatrical device. It helps that Diversionary Theatre’s production of Bright Half Life co-stars two likable actors, Rin Ehlers Sheldon and Bri Giger, portraying a frequently nervous lesbian couple whose relationship goes from the office to the bedroom to co-parenting a couple of kids to separation – decidedly not in chronological order. The 65-minute play directed by Lydia Fort bounces around in time, providing a brisk but choppy look at a relationship with all its highs and lows. It’s neither as sexy nor as profound as it tries to be.