BWW Reviews: Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company's Hysterical New York City Debut of HUNTER GATHERERS is Outrageous Entertainment

Forget the freshly slaughtered lamb that Richard is preparing from a recipe found in The Joy of Cooking. Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's HUNTER GATHERERS is an all-you-can-eat buffet of betrayal, sexual awkwardness, blood, red wine, lust-filled passions, and a blurring of the lines between civilization and primal instincts. The hysterical play, which was first produced in San Francisco in 2006, is getting its long overdue New York City premiere. Nestled in the heart of the East Village's "Theatre Row," Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company keeps the laughs coming with their riotous production of the amusing play.

Set in the apartment of Pam and Richard on the night they host their best friends, Wendy and Tom, for the quartet's annual dinner party, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb asks what happens when our basest desires and behaviors clash with the ideals of polite society. Lurking under the surface of this rather tumultuous group, there is a lot of history, denial, and disappointment, which is the perfect recipe to awaken the deeply repressed, dangerous, and chaotic primitive urges hidden behind the façade of civilization. From the animal sacrifice at the top of the play, the evening is made up of boundaries being haphazardly crossed, allowing the audience to witness the decay of decorum and civility in a cramped, urban loft apartment.

Having seen and loved the play in Houston in December 2013, I was thrilled to revisit this script in New York City. First and foremost, I am impressed with the skill and veracity that Eric Tucker's direction handled the material. Despite the absurdly hyperbolic scenario this dinner party becomes, Eric Tucker's characters seemed grounded in reality. They were not caricatures, but real people who simply explode when conflict overtakes them. Thus, the comedy is painted with dark tones and narrow yet detailed strokes, which makes the depravity that consumes the second act all the more outrageous and comical.

As Richard, Joseph W. Rodriguez is a prime example of the overtly masculine everyman. He opens the play as a man bent on cooking the best and most exquisite meal imaginable for his wife and friends, and to achieve this goal he is not afraid to shed the blood of a baby lamb in his own apartment. Richard is the dominant, alpha-male, and he longs to hold onto this strength in any way possible, whether it means being the best chef, the strongest man in his circle of friends, or continuing the human race with many of his own brood. As the evening wears on, his primal side rears its head and he reduces to a Neanderthal-like creature whose base desires control his thoughts and whims, leaving him to relate his feelings in such simplistic statements as "Richard sad."

The sexually frustrated Wendy, played to perfection by Megan O'Leary, cheers on the erosion of Richard. Her perpetual arousal and indefatigable carnal vigor has her constantly coming on to Richard. Her husband, a prim and proper doctor, bores her. She longs for raw animalism, a lack of predictability, and to be physically dominated by a partner. She also desires to have children. Like Richard, her wants leave her tearing down the walls erected by societal rules and regulations. She is willing to fulfill her deepest desires by any means possible, including betrayal and infidelity.

Demure and polite Pam, played by Emily Dahlke, and the intellectual Tom, played by John Russell, are forced to endure the ostentatious show put on by Richard and Wendy. In spite of the chaos around them, they hold on to the pretense of socially appropriate behavior as long as they can muster the strength to. When they let their guards down and give way to passion in an act of revenge, the pair goes too far and their behavior has drastic consequences. When it all hits the fan and the darkness of this existence can no longer be pushed aside, Emily Dahlke's Pam has a hilarious freak-out moment. Unlike the production I saw in Houston, it doesn't pull on our heartstrings though. So, the play's resolution comes across more as the quiet after the storm than a shattered illusion that will never be able to be reconstructed.

In the quaint setting of The Duo Multicultural Arts Center's second story space, the production's technical elements were limited. Eric Tucker's scenic design smartly utilized the large frescos on the wall and the space's architecture to convey an art-filled loft, allowing audiences to see the ambient environment of the room as choices that Pam and artist Richard would have made to decorate their loft. Using a healthy handful of instruments, Juliana Beecher's light design is mostly functional. The set is bathed is warm ambers, keeping the production in a vision of reality; yet, the final moments are delivered under the tinkling green hue of strung Christmas lights, letting that moment shine in its own way.

Even though the house seats roughly 80 patrons, Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company's NYC premiere of HUNTER GATHERERS only drew about 10 people the night I took it in. Regardless, the cast and crew performed with enough energy and talent to fill a Broadway house, ensuring that all in attendance enjoyed their take on this delightful script. Leave the chill of winter behind, be warmed by the tickling of your ribs and the side-splitting guffaws that Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company have to offer, and you'll leave happy that you can and do exist in this world.

Running Time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes with one intermission.

HUNTER GATHERERS, produced by Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company, runs at The Duo Multicultural Arts Center, 64 East 4th Street (Between 2nd Avenue and Bowery), New York City, 10003 now through March 28, 2015. Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. For tickets and more information, please visit http://playhousecreatures.org or SmartTix.

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