Review: Deliciously Naughty THE BEDROOM PLAYS

The first offering in Epic Theatre Company's Summer of Sex is a hilarious, unexpectedly touching and no holds barred original production called THE BEDROOM PLAYS. This series of ten short works gets increasingly racy with each offering, and the members of the audience have the option to tag themselves out in between each, if they feel like they can't handle the next one. Those that make it all the way through proudly get to share the social media hashtag #10for10. While some plays in this collection are stronger than others, as a whole it deserves praise for taking chances, equal opportunity nudity and an incredibly brave and talented cast who make every joke shine.

Our Master of Ceremonies for the night is a delightfully foul-mouthed Mary Paolino, who alternates between calming the audience down and ramping them back up. In between each act, she comes out and teases the next short play, while also daring people to leave if they can't handle it. Considering there are so many of these interludes, they could easily become a bit stale, but Paolino does a fantastic job keeping the energy high while the next play gets set up right behind her.

Despite the fact that each short play is about sex and relationships, playwright Kevin Broccoli manages to make each distinctly different and unexpected. Bringing in a new director for each section also creates a distinct feel, despite the fact that all the shorts have the same writer and nearly identical sets. It's an interesting evening to deconstruct, and really showcases the directing talents of Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, Kira Hawkridge, Joanne Fayan, Jill Jones, Kate Lester, Tom Chace, Shannon McLoud, Jennifer White, and Tammy Brown in addition to Broccoli. Fetishes, fraternities, parenthood and the PTA are all featured, and despite each works' brevity, really manage to say something and stay with the audience long past their end. Broccoli is a master of dialogue, and this is another excellent example of the skill of choosing the right word at the right time, and finding fantastic actors to bring those words to life.

If plot and acting are not a reason to go see a play, perhaps gratuitous nudity is a more compelling reason. This play has lots of it--male and female, every shape and size under the sun. Interestingly enough though, once everyone on stage is naked, it's pretty easy to forget about that part and focus again on the plot and acting. It's shocking at first, but after a while it's more distracting when some people aren't naked. While some of the reasons for people being nude are flimsier than others, it's also never not hilarious, which is really the best way to handle a potentially uncomfortable situation like live nude theatre.

The Bedroom Plays is a delightfully dirty way to spend a weekend night, and it truly has something for everyone. Even people uncomfortable with nudity in theory would probably not be uncomfortable sitting in the back, and even if they find they can't handle it, there's plenty of wine and the option to leave at any time. Do yourself a favor and spend part of your weekend laughing until you cry and tearing down taboos.

The Bedroom Plays runs Friday and Saturday nights from July 8th to July 23rd at 7:30pm at Mixed Magic Theatre 560 Mineral Spring Ave, Pawtucket, RI. Tickets are $20 available on Mixed Magic's website at mmtri.com.

This play contains nudity and sexual situations, and is limited to mature audiences ages 18 and older.

To post a comment, you must register and login.