LOL: OMG

Call it Tootsie for the internet age, with a healthy dash of Frankenstein thrown in. To better understand what women want in a lover (or at least to get virtually laid), a man creates a female persona to use in chat rooms and have cyber-sex with bisexual women. But when the female identity becomes more popular– and, by virtue, stronger– than her creator, the man must destroy what has rapidly become his better half.

Tony Sportiello's LOL certainly has an eye-catching concept, and promises a bawdy evening of sex, gender identity, romance, a little bit of fantasy, and maybe a Very Important Lesson to make all the fun seem more important than it needs to be. Unfortunately, it delivers all of these in such a heavy-handed manner that it comes across as an After School Special on Lifetime TV rather than innovative theatre.

Perhaps if the characters were remotely sympathetic, it would be easier to sympathize with their problems and neuroses. The protagonist (an appropriately petulant Greg Skura) is shallow and spineless, blaming everyone except himself for his problems– and for his actions. As a woman (an alternately winsome and shrill Nicole Taylor), he is conniving and manipulative– in other words, a man's idea of a powerful woman (for further examples, see Basic Instinct and Working Girl). The one woman who catches his/her heart in the chat-rooms is presented a bit more kindly, but the character is so weak and two-dimensional (and introduced so late in the story) that she barely registers (Kari Swenson Riely makes the most of the part, however little she is given to do). Ironically, the character we're meant to dislike from the beginning (a former flame of the hero's who he dismisses as "too honest," played with gusto by Debra Whitfield) turns out to be the only honest, non-manipulative and moderately self-confident person on the stage. It's hard to care about the characters when they are so consistently unlikable, and when genuine emotion begins to creep in, it's too little, too late.

The length of the piece is also a detriment. At two hours, including an intermission, it is simply too long for the thin story. Half an hour (including the intermission) could be lost, and the best moments would be left intact. Jerry Less' direction keeps the action moving at a good pace, and maintains good energy despite the lethargic script. Nayan Panchal's lighting nicely evokes the fantasy world of cyber-space as well as the harsh realities of everyday life.

Mr. Sportiello has a clever idea with this play, but his script ultimately lacks both the comedy and depth to pull it off completely. May his next work fare better.