F$$$ the Holidays

Who in the world gives a gallon of semi-gloss as a Christmas gift? From the outset, it's a surreal existence in Sweetlove Productions' so-called "seasonal retail story" F$$$ the Holidays, produced in partnership with the Ringwald and directed by Joe Plambeck. This one-act late-night production, written by Marke Sobolewski and Cara Trautman, is an unlikely tale of rival paint stores and their respective offbeat employees; the small story is a good fit for the short running time and leaves room for comedic character development and hilarious moments.

Trautman plays Kirsten, a frontrunner in the rat race who manages one franchise of a paint conglomerate; Sobolewski's Jeremy is the heir to his father's small-town family paint store. Their conflict plays on themes of corporate versus small business and new- versus old-school marketing, but mostly the two seem to revile each other because one lives to sell paint and the other ought to. Christmas approaches at each location, but the stores themselves don't appear to be jeopardized or locked in any do-or-die competition; the attention in this show is on the personal and interpersonal, not on holiday shoppers or the bottom line.

Click to read more ...

Code Foxy: Man Down

Code Foxy: Man Down had life before the Ringwald: this 45-minute late-night show premiered at the Planet Ant Theatre two years ago. Now picked up by Sweetlove Productions and featuring the same performers (the members of the improv troupe Tiger Ride, who also penned the original script), the current iteration feels more like a reunion than a full revival.

In the vein of Charlie's Angels, the five women of Tiger Ride make up the Foxy Tiger Detective Agency. Chassy Tiger (Cara Trautman) is the reformed car expert, Dr. Raven Tiger (Kathryn Trepkowski) is the degree-laden bird whisperer, Summer-Winter Tiger (Anne Faba) is the CIA-trained ditz extraordinaire, and Pam Tiger (Suzan Jacokes) is the retired cop granddaughter of the agency's benefactor, Baron Rex (voiced by David Herbst). Rex's violent end summons the return of his other granddaughter, musician playgirl Sugar Tiger (Lauren Bickers), who announces he was murdered, enlists the group to solve the case, and immediately rekindles her rivalry with sister Pam. True to the source material, the characters appear to be costumed more with overstatement than with actual fabric.

Click to read more ...

The Real Housewives of the North Pole

If you crave sincerity and the warmth of human kindness this time of year, look elsewhere. This joint effort of Who Wants Cake? and Sweetlove Productions is hardly even a Christmas story, but rather a loosely plotted comedy that happens to be set at the North Pole. However, if your idea of a happy holiday is spewing hot toddy through your nose from laughter, be sure to stay up late for The Real Housewives of the North Pole.

The original script, by director Marke Sobolewski and cast member Cara Trautman, draws inspiration from the Bravo network's Real Housewives series. Supposedly, behind every great man is a great woman, so here we look into the lives of Mrs. Claus, Mrs. Kringle, the mayor's wife, an uninhibited divorcee, and the new woman in town, whose contractor husband was hired to save the struggling Pole. The writers draw on the reality-TV framework with sparing use of "confessional" interview scenes, but aren't afraid to stray from the source material and let the simple story tell itself. The women are at their best in group scenes as they drink, fight, give advice, go on excursions, suspect and spy on each other, and throw a fundraiser. Although you don't have to like the Real Housewives franchise to enjoy this play, fans of "Tardy For the Party" should also be satisfied by the included spoofs.

Click to read more ...