Review: Flying V's MATT & BEN a Hilarious Bromance Satire

Picture a pair of college roommates, dreaming of fame and fortune and praying for their big break. Their cramped lodgings cluttered with snack foods, an old couch, the obligatory old computer, etc. Then, a miracle-the script that will launch their careers appears as if by magic!

That pretty much sums up the story of comedienne Mindy Kaling and her Dartmouth classmate Brenda Withers, stuck in New York City one hot summer and poring over the celebrity magazines when of course they should be seriously working on their Magnum Opus. And what to their wondering eyes should appear, but - who else? - Matt Damon, his good buddy Ben Affleck and Ben's main squeeze Jennifer Lopez. And the fallout from Gigli, whatever that was. (Better not ask).

So Mindy and Brenda are thinking, since when do these two college drop-outs get to strike it rich? One stinking script, Goodwill Hunting, and whammo-Oscars, paparazzi, Cannes, the whole nine yards. Could it just maybe, possibly be that it's because they're two guys? From Boston? (OK, Southie, but hey it's still Boston). Why can't a couple of incredibly talented women suddenly hit the jackpot like they did?

Oh yeah. The plumbing. Right.

Not to be outdone by the macho habitués of People magazine, Mindy and Brenda cooked up a full-ish-length play, Matt & Ben, whose premise is that Damon and Affleck's first and only screenplay miraculously dropped into Ben's filthy bachelor pad from the ceiling. Or something. The important thing here was that when it opened Matt & Ben featured two talented, funny young women playing the most famous guys in the world. And it rocked the house, enjoyed an extended run and launched their careers; both Kaling and Withers have been writing and performing up a storm ever since.

Now that Matt & Ben has touched down in DC thanks to the impeccable taste of Flying V's head honchos, we can finally see what all the fuss was about. Director Matt Bassett has a genuine hit on his hands, driven by hilarious performances featuring two actresses-Tia Shearer (Matt) and Katie Jeffries (Ben)-who bounce gleefully off of each other like a dime off Batman's butt. (And yes, the next Batman should totally be a woman, what were we thinking?) What's especially gratifying about their performances is that neither one feel obligated to put on a "man act" - spitting at an invisible spittoon, scratching their crotches, sitting with a man-spread at all times, which seems to be the rather annoying default for cross-gender players I've seen of late. They are actresses playing Matt and Ben, which was rather the point of the whole exercise: to prove that women are just as dynamic and Hollywood-worthy as these two losers.

(Obviously I'm not waiting on that call from Mr. Affleck's casting agent ...)

Of the two, Ms. Shearer has spent more time with the material; this run marks her second turn at what I really should call a Khakis Role, given Damon's costume (this, a nod to the "Breeches Roles" of the old days). She plays Matt as an insufferable, penny-loafered brainiac with ease and flair, and her the cameo as J. D. Salinger is a nice change of pace. Jeffries' Ben is appropriately clueless, and as the Id to Matt's Ego, she embraces the stupid and indulges in a variety of bizarre routines-chugging juice, running the gamut of really godawful dialects, throwing chairs, using a computer keyboard as a weapon of passive aggression, etc.

This isn't just an extended Saturday Night Live sketch; Kaling and Withers understand the need to create dramatic tension, complications, dream sequences (a blond-wigged Jeffries has a fun turn as Gwyneth Paltrow to match Shearer's Salinger), not to mention a perverse plot twist or two. There is even a climactic fight scene, ably choreographed by Jonathan Ezra Rubin, which has all the earmarks of a satire of Sam Shepherd's True West-which, not coincidentally, involves a movie script (note to self: empty pizza boxes do not an implement of destruction make).

Jos. B. Musumeci, Jr. creates an appropriately semi-shabby setting for the action, the feeling of a walk-up flat that was clearly an afterthought, furnished nicely by Andrea 'Dre' Moor's props (the already-open bags of chips and pretzels being a quite authentic touch). Neil McFadden weaves in some nice touches, including references to the era in which the action is set-the clip from "Twin Peaks" was especially well placed. Kat Fleshman's costumes are especially effective for Messrs. Paltrow and Salinger, and Kristin A. Thompson appears to have some fun with the lights, cuing the shifts from reality to fantasy and back.

Flying V has been around for a few years, folks, and if you haven't caught them in the act yet, it's high time you got acquainted.

Production Photo: Tia Shearer (Matt), with guitar, and Katie Jeffries (Ben) on tambourine. Photo by James Ryan Photography.

Running time: 60+ minutes with no intermission.

Matt & Ben runs June 9-26; performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Performances take place at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD.

Tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets online at http://flyingv.brownpapertickets.com, or at the door starting one hour before the performance.

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