Fight Girl Battle World: Punchlines and Punch-outs

I'd heard of the notorious Vampire Cowboys theatre company before, but never seen any of their work until this latest endeavor, Fight Girl Battle World.   Written by Qui Nguyen and directed by Robert Ross Parker, it's an incredibly silly and very very funny spoof of space operas, filtered through Vampire Cowboy's anime/kung-fu æsthetic.  Full of amazing characters and great jokes, it's a rollicking good time.

General Dan'h (Temar Underwood) and his trusty pilot J'an Jah  (Maureen Sebastian) are on a hunt for The Last Human Alive, who turns out to be E-V (Melissa Paladino), who is currently working on Battle World fighting whatever monster is thrown her way, sometimes throwing fights for her slimy two-headed manager Zimlek (Kelly Rae O'Donnell and Andrea Marie Smith).  Dan'h finds her and wants her to breed with the Other Last Human Alive, who turns out to be handsome-but-psychotic Resistance Terrorist Adon-Ra (Noshir Dalal), who happens to be J'an Jah's ex-husband, and who is busy killing President Ya-Wi (Jon Hoche).  When E-V gets sold to a zoo planet by Zimlek, she meets robotic friend LC-4 (Paco Tolson), reunite with Dan'h, then are attacked by his ex-pilot Mika Monoch (Elena Chang), who is in cahoots with the evil government...

The plot just gets sillier from there, but it never loses the vital energy that keeps such a wacky story line afloat.  The show spoofs tons of sci-fi tropes (e.g. "single biome planet", "hyperspace is scary", even throwing in a learning montage), hitting its targets with a loving skill. 

The cast is wonderful- all of them have excellent timing with both their comedic and fight scenes.  The action sequences are inventive and impressive - The big final showdown fight garnered a full minute of deserved enthusiastic applause on the night I attended. 

The detailed visual style is also worth noting- set and lights by Nick Francone are great.  Puppets by David Valentine are incorporated into the play as realistic characters.  Jessica Wegener's beautifully loopy costumes give a real sense of otherworldliness.

Really, I laughed so hard I nearly hurt myself.  Fight Girl Battle World is an astounding piece of work.  I may go see it again.

Fight Girl Battle World
Vampire Cowboys
Center Stage, NY, 48 West 21st Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Runs March 6 thru March 30
Thursdays through Sundays at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets $18.00.
212-352-3101 or www.theatermania.com.

Photo Credit: Jim Baldassare

1. Melissa Paladino (E-V), Elena Chang (Mikah Monoch), Maureen Sebastian (J'an Jah), and Temar Underwood (General Dan'h Madrin)
2. Andrea Marie Smith and Kelley Rae O'Donnell (Zimlek)