Refracted Theatre Company: I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire
Alex O’Shea and Jasper Johnson
Refracted Theatre Company Presents I’M GONNA MARRY YOU TOBEY MAGUIRE Review - Stockholm Syndrome Anyone?
TLDR: The premise of a show about parasocial relationships and kidnapping might make some question if this is a show for them. But led by a hilarious cast, I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire is delightfully unhinged and brings a surprising amount of comedy and heartfelt moments.
Alex O’Shea
Don’t Meet Your Heroes, or Maybe, Do?
He was a Spiderman. She was an avid fan.
He gets high off of huffing spray paint fumes. She has an entire wall of his headshots and sent him her baby teeth.
It’s 2004 and Tobey Maguire is Hollywood’s current heartthrob. With it comes the hoards of fans obsessing over his every look, movie, and interview. Enter Shelby Hinkley of Bumfuck, South Dakota. She is fourteen years old and president of the international Tobey Maguire Fan Club. She posts videos every other Tuesday complete with songs and puns all Tobey-centric and records any new Tobey information in her bright pink binder labeled, The Tobey-pedia. Everything that is out there in the world about Tobey Maguire, she’s memorized it.
A man walks onstage, takes a breath and secures the chain to his handcuffs before lying face down on the floor. The only light is coming from the top of the basement stairs casting everything in eerie shadows. We hear footsteps coming down the stairs and then we see Shelby in a wedding dress backlit by the dim, orangey glow. It almost feels like the start of a horror movie, and we in the audience know for Tobey this experience is about to be his worst nightmare.
Even though this is the season for that, I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire isn’t a horror play (Shelby isn’t that kind of obsessed). So here we are in Shelby’s basement and everything that happens next turns into a weird, funny, and oddly heartfelt play of what ifs.
Alex O’Shea and Jasper Johnson
The Star, The Fan, and Everybody Else Around
For a play that starts with an abduction, I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire is at its core a comedy. It plays out what happens if one of those die-hard fans actually ended up getting their wildest dream of having their celebrity crush all to themselves.
If you heard of someone kidnapping a celebrity, presumably you would not, by default, be on the kidnapper’s side. However, our Shelby played by Alex O’Shea immediately paints us a picture of a good natured kidnapper and has our interest piqued enough to say, let’s see how this plays out. She’s the odd girl out at school, has an absentee Mom, and there’s something about her past that’s lurking underneath the surface. O’Shea is the perfect balance of charming and weird. Even as Tobey does everything to escape, she still has unflappable optimism that they will get married and enjoy their honeymoon.
When Jasper Johnson gets up from the floor, we see he’s in peak 2000s fashion dressed in baggy, straight leg jeans and layered a long sleeve t-shirt underneath a short sleeved one. We’ll buy into that he’ll be our stage version of Tobey Maguire. He has the right amount of acerbic and deadpan deliveries to offset O’Shea’s unyielding energy. As Shelby looks at him with rose colored glasses, he reveals the man behind the paparazzi facade, much to her horror. When he comes out in a Spiderman catsuit and bemoans his fame, we see perhaps why he'd be inclined to hang out in a basement with a real person.
The rest of our characters also have their quirks and are all played by Lucy Stoole. From the upstairs we hear the disembodied voice of Shelby’s mom yell down about unfreezing pigs in a blanket and clipping her toenails on schedule. A poster of Tobey Maguire slides away to reveal her as a second, more fabulous Tobey Maguire that speaks to the real Tobey Maguire. And never underestimate South Dakota’s top real estate agent and champion cornhole player, Brenda Dee Cankles. Stoole plays all of these characters with a flair and comedic timing that only a drag queen can do.
The three of them together bring the script written by Smantha Hurley to life and create the kooky atmosphere for this twisted and hilarious fantasy.
Jasper Johnson and Alex O’Shea
The After Party Thoughts
We walked into the theatre not knowing if this was going to be a metaphor or if there was actually going to be an actor playing Tobey Maguire (or maybe by chance they got the real Tobey Maguire, who knows). Then when we saw the pole standing center stage with chains, a series of padlocks, and some handcuffs around it, we knew there was definitely going to be someone trapped in this basement.
I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire is delightfully unhinged. If you caught my reference earlier to Avril Lavigne's Sk8er Boi, this show is going to resonate with you a lot as a fellow millennial and someone who remembers VHS tapes, Yoplait low fat yogurt commercials, and bean bag chairs. For those that aren't looking for a play about parasocial relationships, this show might not be for you. But if you're in the mood for a show with unpredictable twists and turns and moments that have you trying to hold in your laughter, I'm Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire is a must see!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Lucy Stoole
When
Now through October 31, 2026
Where
The Den Theatre
1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
Runtime: 105min, no intermission
Tickets
$40+
Tickets can be purchased through the Refracted Theatre Company website
Photos
Joe Mazza/Brave Lux
Find Allie and The After Party featured on Theatre in Chicago
Jasper Johnson and Alex O’Shea
CAST
Alex O’Shea (Shelby Hinkley)
Jasper Johnson (Tobey Maguire)
Lucy Stoole (Brenda Dee Cankles / Tobey Maguire Poster / Shelby’s Mom / Paparazzi / Others)
Carmia Imani (Understudy Shelby Hinkley)
Colin Huerta (Understudy Tobey Maguire)
Felix (Understudy Brenda Dee Cankles / Tobey Maguire Poster / Shelby’s Mom / Paparazzi / Others)
Jasper Johnson
CREATIVE
Samantha Hurley (Playwright)
Tyler Struble (Director)
Sam Barr (Production Manager)
M Paige (Stage Manager)
Tessa Huber (Assistant Stage Manager)
Trenton Jones (Scenic Designer)
Madeleine Reid (Lighting Designer)
Angela Joy Baldasare (Sound Designer)
Madeleine Shows (Costume Designer)
Elly Burke (Props Designer)
G. “Max” Maxin IV (Media Designer)
Kira Nutter (Intimacy / Violence Choreographer)
Syd Genco (Hair, Makeup & Wigs Designer)
Kieran O’Connor (Technical Director)
Peter Boenish (Projection Engineer)
David Sajewich (Prologue Animation)
Karen Wallace (Master Electrician)