LARRY L. KUBERT / For the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:00 pm
The Crooked Codpiece Company is certainly one of the smaller and less fiscally robust theater groups in Lincoln.
But don't let size or budget influence your opinion of its productions.
With the current production of Jim Hanna's "Pelvic Variations," Crooked Codpiece provides unqualified proof that a low-budget, intimate effort does not automatically equate to a journeyman effort.
No, indeed. Playing before a sold-out house, the company's cast of four (Tom Crew, Amy Jirsa, Patrick Lambrecht and Lettie Van Hemert) demonstrate that quality performances do not and should not depend upon flashy sets and gaudy pretense.
Good theater requires solid acting, strong direction and a good script. All three are more than present in "Pelvic Variations."
Running 1¾ hours, this hilarious comedy is a marvelously askew look at gender stereotypes and intergender relationships.
Comprised of numerous short scenes, the adult comedy pokes at and probes into such scenarios as a reverse Thanksgiving where the women watch football on television while the men clean up after the feast.
Or a turnabout look at a pair of couples watching a horror movie.
Or the conflicting female/male versions of what happened on a blind date.
The funniest scene was a verbal contest between Jirsa and Crew as they jousted over which gender had it tougher.
A look at the slow collapse of idealism by a sensitive new-age man (Lambrecht) and hard-nosed career woman (Van Hemert), and a press conference featuring a report by a man on the superior qualities of men over women are also quite amusing.
While the singing abilities of the cast are rather stretched on the play's closing segment, the musical tribute to the benefits of masturbation is exceedingly funny.
Hanna's script broadly addresses the pigeonholed assumptions that society so readily embraces, showing via reversal the ludicrousness of such suppositions. The playwright also provides some pointedly barbed commentary.
Meanwhile, Crew, Jirsa, Lambrecht and Van Hemert impressively display the theatrical skill and savvy to transition from character to character and from emotion to emotion as they move through a variety of roles.
And while the cast often uses some sweeping interpretations, the four also show how subtlety and nuance should be executed.
The performance of "Pelvic Variations" may possess some informal touches, but the Crooked Codpiece execution is almost flawless.
If you go
What: "Pelvic Variations," Crooked Codpiece Company
Where: The Loft at The Mill, Eighth and P streets
When: 7:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, Thursday; 2 p.m. Sunday, 9:30 p.m. next Friday
Tickets: $15, $10 senior citizens and students; 473-2895