Review: Paper Chairs Presents World Premiere HOT BELLY

HOT BELLY, a new play by Diana Lynn Small, is receiving a rolling world-premiere between paper chairs, happening first here in Austin, and then by the NYC/Chicago based company, The Syndicate. While Small has been a frequent paper chairs collaborator, this is the company's first time to produce one of her plays. It is also the first play ever produced in The Austin Public, a media and film studio on Austin's East side. The venue works as a perfect setting for this play which exists between live television and a daydream.

HOT BELLY is a two-hander that follows the love affair of Valerie (Elizabeth Doss) and Veronica (Alexis Scott) and all of the little things in life beyond our ability to control that strain a relationship: money, chili, ghosts, critical illness, and body hair. When they decide to become transients in the Midwest, selling people's abandoned goods in WalMart parking lots, pressures are put on their relationship they never dreamed of.

Written and directed by Diana Lynn Small, HOT BELLY bills itself as "a queer love story", but what soon becomes clear is that queer is meant here in a double sense. While on the surface it is about two women in love, on deeper levels, the structure of the show evokes the traditional sense of the word. It's not just your basic girl meets girl with crock pot, girl gets girl and crock pot, girl loses girl but keeps crock pot story.

Structurally, Small's play reminds me of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, where each act is meant to be performed in a different theatrical style. HOT BELLY is similarly a mash-up of dramatic styles. In Small's new play, this begins with a heightened style that is more presentational and comedic in nature. We start with characters that break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience and then morph into a stylized domestic drama and finally into a tragic love story.

The main message Small seems to be imparting is that people should embrace life as an unknowable ride. Being of the moment here clearly has joys and a sense of wonder and adventure, while bending to convention just as clearly deadens the soul. While stated late in the script pretty explicitly, it is echoed from the very start in the crock pot chili metaphor. It is telling that the distinction is that it is described as hot, not spicy. The distinction is made that chili should be so hot as to make the meat and beans indiscernible. In other words, a hot belly is the key to a life well lived, a life savored.

While there is a lot to like in HOT BELLY, the transitions in theatrical style are imprecise and, as a result, a bit confusing. The script could benefit from sharpening the stylistic choices. It works best during the heightened reality and presentational moments, where it manages to have both great charm and hearty laughs. As it progresses, the wind kind of comes out the sails. While this could be intentionally echoing the devolution of a relationship; if that is the goal, it could benefit from being clearer.

The performances of Elizabeth Doss and Alexis Scott are wonderful and the actresses make the scripts stylistic changes with style and skill.

Likewise, the tech is great. Lisa Laratta's set design is sparse yet multipurpose and features some clever morphing of its own. Rachel Atkinson has done a beautiful job with the lighting and has created some striking moments of mood and locale. Trevor Welch's music works well in support of the performance.

While HOT BELLY could benefit from further shaping and refining, it is still an entertaining glimpse at two unique and fascinating characters with unusual perspectives and life philosophies.

HOT BELLY Written and Directed by Diana Lynn Small

Running time: 75 Minutes. No Intermission

HOT BELLY, produced by paper chairs, plays The Austin Public (1143 Northwestern Ave., Austin, TX, 78702) 8 p.m. Fridays - Sundays through Feb. 19th. For tickets & more info: www.paperchairs.com

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