SpeakEasy Stage’s provocative BOOTYCANDY (playing through
April 9th) has enough solid star turns in it to almost make
you forget Robert O’Hara’s bizarre, disjoined script. At one point, women in
orange prison jumpsuits put a stop to the show, complaining that what’s going
on isn’t “in character” for the protagonist. (And they claim to be “British,”
for some unexplained reason, to boot!) Their timing was perfect: That’s exactly
what I was thinking about a character that breaks really bad. His violent behavior
is just not believable. And convincing a friend to go along? Not believable,
either and the playwright can’t get away with it simply by commenting on it.
Clever skits start out hilariously (like Maurice Parent’s
adorable, inquisitive six year old or Johnny Lee Davenport’s righteous Reverend
Benson), then wear out their welcome when they run too long. It’s as if O’Hara
can’t find an ending for the vignette(s) but when he gets serious (John Kuntz
convincing a mugger to leave him alone), his writing soars. Lucky for O’Hara, director
Summer L. Williams has a dream cast to inhabit all the loosely connected roles.
I’m sorry to say I also had problems identifying recurring
characters because of their shift in age or situation but what was always clear
was the caliber of performance. From Tiffany Nichole Greene’s exasperated young
mother trying her best not to address a six year old’s questions about sex—to Jackie Davis’ terrifying alpha mom
at the dinner table—to the
aforementioned powerful men in the play, the cast is the reason to see this
wobbly, pretty raw script. Note: There is nudity and adult content, as they say
at the movies.
