BWW Reviews: THE WELL OF HORNINESS Pumps Pulchritudinous Punchlines Through Theatre Project

THE WELL OF HORNINESS, the current production playing at Theatre Project, has madcap motion, familiar characters, sexy action sequences/active sex sequences and clever, punny wordplay for ninety minutes front to back. It's funny, raunchy, ridiculous and insubstantial. Go. Take your popcorn. Beyond that, it's difficult to describe without picking it apart, which I'd rather not do, as that may make it less appealing, rather like Pho.

Speaking of which, my favorite little secret, Soup's On, has switched to summer hours and wasn't open, so my

friend and I visited Aloha Sushi around the corner on Charles Street. I quite liked the New Alaskan roll, and my friend was satisfied with her Philly roll. Prices were reasonable and service was rapid but not rushed.

Turns out, our choice of sushi is thematic. There's something fishy about THE WELL OF HORNINESS. Quite a lot, actually, but in a good way. It was a diverting evening of entertainment which felt as if it had been written using a search engine wordblock that looked like this:

popcorn genre crossdress satire fishpun emcee trenchcoat bi-curious disco fastpaced lesbian alliteration rescue whiteprivilege tutu detective quickchange identity props cornball adult Fluevog ensemble icon image expectation manic nightclub advertising moustache facepalm Dorothy madcap lust television graphic trope radioseries broad

so if that assortment of words is attractive to you, it's a good bet you'll like the show.

Holly Hughes, Baltimore icon and lesbian writer, has jumbled many of my favorite things into an assemblage of raunchy, cheesy comedy, much like Chex mix: lots of things I like, not much substance, and no lingering aftertaste. In this way it is dramatically different from Iron Crow's last production, THE REVELATION OF BOBBY PRITCHARD, written by Rich Espy, which was full of deep and heavy stuff, characters who felt real even when they were disagreeable, with points of resonance for almost everyone, rather like a Pulitzer-nominated novel.

THE WELL OF HORNINESS is much more of a comic book. The characters are colorful and hastily drawn, and their 2-dimensionality is a stylistic choice rather than sloppy writing. Hughes has given them all vivid, clever dialogue, director Julianne Franz orchestrates snappy sitcom physicality and comic sex scenes, and every actor effectively manages dense dialogue and high-speed stage traffic, sometimes simultaneously. Elizabeth Scollan, in the lead role as Vicki, is a capable leading woman, and as her boyfriend Rod, young newcomer Kelly Hutchinson is comic timing personified. Ann Turiano, whom I liked quite a lot in Glass Mind's THE DUM DUMS, is onstage as someone or other for most of the show and her powers of disguise and misdirection added a 'where's Waldo' element to the show. Likeable and stalwart Andrea Bush, our Narrator/ MC, has the daunting demand of diving into rapid-fire repartee riddled with wiley witticisms, studded by silly similes, still somehow succeeds in sustaining straight-faced seriousness.

The production team- Wil E. Crowther on costumes, Mollie Singer on set design, Chris Flint on lighting, director Julianne Franz on sound and several speedy people on running crew- create an environment that is suitable but non-obtrusive with so many moving parts that pauses between sequences are unnecessary. This intermission-free production runs about an hour and a half, so if you want wine with your women, get it before the show starts.

THE WELL OF HORNINESS contains no explosions and no kitchen sink, though almost everything else one might imagine in a show that's part Laugh-In, part Dallas and part Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. The author claims that it "utterly lacks redeeming social value," which can be said of most contemporary pop culture. If you're in the mood for raunchy hilarity, leave Grandma with the kids at home and come on out to Theatre Project. One minor caveat for non-lesbian people: my breeder friend and I felt that some, perhaps much, of the comedy sailed over our straight heads, but there's plenty of silly fun and the sushi is excellent.

THE WELL OF HORNINESS plays at Theatre Project Thursdays through Sundays until June 20th, performances at 8 pm, except for Sunday, June 14, which is at 7 pm, plus Wednesday, June 17th at 8 pm. Visit http://www.theatreproject.org/ or call the box office at (410) 752-8558 for tickets.

Theatre Project is located at 45 West Preston Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201. On-street parking is available (free after 6 pm on weekdays, free all day on weekends) and there's a paid garage across the street.

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