Review: BODY LANGUAGE at The Writer's Center

The world premiere of Body Language (the one-person show presented at The Writer’s Center by Proud of You Productions) is transformative and therapeutic theatre at its best. Often, solo shows can become unduly victimizing and self-serving, but this gem of a solo show goes beyond niche, insular tropes into universal themes which stimulate the audience with universal themes of distrust, medical gaslighting, self-esteem, disinformation, illness, and pain.

These many themes and very serious (and often alarming) issues may seem a lot to explore in a seventy-five-minute production-- but performer/writer and executive producer Jenny Napolitano is blessed with incisive, alternately moving and amusing acting prowess. Ms. Napolitano travels to her past memories of her family (especially her mother’s early death from cancer), her battles for a positive body image after being shamed, and trauma from abusive doctors, unsensitive men and even the horrors of non-consensual sex (rape). 

The deeply ruminative style of Ms. Napolitano’s writing and performance is sensitively evoked with mesmerizing presence (aided with visual projections by Clarissa Briasco-Stewart that expand on themes). Further nuance in this amazing solo piece is continually developed with the collaboration of director Lee Blaser. 

There are intermittent juxtapositions from remembrances of past and ongoing reflections/storytelling –conveyed by propelling the audience into the current back drop of a brick wall(of a comedy club) which represents  broader comedic tones ---when Ms. Napolitano breaks the fourth wall and explores her pain by engaging the audience more directly. This ingenious theatrical device works very well in transcending too much subjectivity .

The acting by Jenny Napolitano is delivered throughout in a sort of deadpan, dryly caustic manner but this veneer is deceptive----Ms. Napolitano develops such pathos and deep insight from her various lines and scenes that it is obvious that she has plumbed the interior depths of sense memory. I could hear a pin drop as Ms. Napolitano delivered three devastating monologues of searing impact and devastating cumulative power: sorrowful remembrance of her mother’s final days dying of cancer, a harrowing whitewater rafting trip that was led by an irresponsible and cruel adult, and a non-consensual sex act (rape) forced upon her when she clearly said “no”. These powerful monologues are all evoked with dramatic fluency and immediacy.

Familial memories are especially writ large with whitewater rafting, living in Florida, school life, doctors, relationships with friends, and body image anxieties  triggered by a popular teen/young woman’s  magazine. Ms. Napolitano’s storytelling, timing, and flair, aid immeasurably as she delves into her past influences and mooring points.  Director Lee Blaser has beautifully weaved the more ruminative elements of the production with the broader elements of comedy and topicality.

Director Blaser strongly addresses the “medical gaslighting” of women which results in misdiagnosis of gynecological  disorders ---which results in unneeded pain, suffering, anxiety and marginalization. Specific medical conditions such as vaginitis, vulvodynia, and female sexual dysfunction are all explored via the probing writing and narratives of Ms. Napolitano under Ms. Blaser’s direction.

Body Language is a painful, occasionally amusing (with self-depreciating humor) theatrical meditation on reclaiming personal agency and autonomy amidst the severe pain and justifiable disillusionment of life’s vicissitudes.

Body Language can be a mirror for the inner turmoil of the broken semantics of communication amidst cruel authority figures, uncaring people, and systemic inequalities. Kudos to Ms. Jenny Napolitano, director Lee Blaser, and producer Gus Nordhielm for developing this theatrical work of immense relevance and reflection.

Body Language is a work that should be presented to wide demographics as its themes are relatable to almost any human being. Who has not ever felt a fight for self-esteem, a fear of medical abuse, and/or shame regarding body image in a shallow culture?  This vulnerable and honest work deserves to be experienced by as many people as possible.

Running Time: 75 minutes with no intermission.

Body Language was presented as a World Premiere on September 25, 26 and 27, 2026 --as a presentation of Proud of You Productions –at the Writer’s Center’s Allan Lefcowitz Theater located at 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD, 20815.

Photo credit: Jenny Napolitano in the World Premiere of Body Langauage. Photo by Erin Rock.