Here’s what you
can say about Heart & Dagger’s cheeky little festival playing through June
14th called SEXFEST II. (Yes, Virginia,
this is the second year for the frisky festival.) It’s a little daring, mildly
shocking, often inventive, downright hilarious and a few of the plays have
something serious to say. If Saturday Night Live didn’t have network censors to
rein them in, they might be writing SEXFEST.
Let’s start with
the thought provoking stuff (which by the by is all penned by women!). Sexual
inequality is tackled by Cassie M. Seinuk in “P is for…” You know it’s for
“porn” from the get-go, when a woman comes home early from work and catches her
boyfriend watching and, well, you know what he was doing. Seinuk poses these
questions: If heterosexual men watch lesbian porn for inspiration, then do
straight women get turned on by gay porn? And if not, why not... and if it’s acceptable
for men to watch porn, why not for women?
Jessica Andrewartha
puts a feminist twist on S&M in “Star Wars-The New Grope” when her princess
Leia takes full charge of her date and instructs him on how to “objectify” her
properly. Lyralen Kaye’s “Bathroom Games” is a touching cautionary tale in
which an older, wiser man tries to warn a youth about the pitfalls of hanging
around bathrooms.
Debra Weiss
makes “ONE” work surprisingly well when two women end a relationship speaking
only one word at a time, when “cheat” inevitably leads to “break.” It’s amazing
how much emotion they muster with one word. Speaking of choosing the right
word, Kilian Melloy’s “Teodoro” is a sweet paean to the love note and how trite
a declaration of affection can sound on paper.
Michael Cox’s
spoof of heterosexual machismo gets lots of laughs when two losers try to
impress by bragging about their sexual prowess. Mikey DeLoreto’s smart S&M
tale begins with a charming pantomime (about what to wear when you go out
looking for someone to “play with”) and ends with quite a clever twist.
David Miller’s
provocative “CRISCO” serves up dinner as a metaphor for commitment and Rick
Park’s naughty birthday romp is interrupted by a parade of well wishers the
birthday boy wishes would go away. John J. King goes pun wild with a kinky
mythological re-set of Pandora’s Box. Kendall Aiguier sends up online dating
with a slew of applicants from hell. And there are still more skits on the
bill.
Some of the
actors direct. Some of the directors write. (Full Disclosure: A couple of
critics have become writers for the festival and one directs, too): Heat &
Dagger have assembled a talented crew. Everyone pitches in and there isn’t a
clunker in the bunch. Some are stranger than others, mind you and the eroticism
is mostly in the dialogue.
Acting
standouts: Joey Pelletier as the guy who wants more than a hook up: He wants
dinner and a relationship. Adam Lauver as the English teacher who decides to
help a clueless kid (David DiRocco). Alissa Cordeiro and Bridgette Hayes as
mythological sirens. Best of all is Cameron Cronin strutting to “Its Raining
Men.”
