Bachelorette
By Leslye Headland
Directed by Darrell W. Cox
At Profiles Theatre
Too much screaming and crudeness dooms the Bachelorette.
Perhaps the Bachelorette is a ‘girls night out’ as witnessed by the dominant female audience at the Sunday night, February 5, performance or maybe the Super Bowl kept guys from attending? Perhaps?
Playwright Leslye Headland’s satirical comedy does nothing to make women look any better than all the ‘nasty men’ usually portrayed in Profiles Theatre’s plays. We meet Regan (Hillary Marren), Katie (Linda Augusta Orr), and Gena (Amanda Powell) as they party in the suit of their friend Becky (Rakisha Pollard). Only Regan, the maid of honor, was allowed to be in the suit but Regan just had to have her drinking/druggie friends Katie and Gena with her.
In a long sequence of screaming, screeching and foul-mouthed dialogue, coke snorting and champagne drinking scenes, the three dysfunctional women show their crude, raw make up. When they spent time talking about the strategic use of oral sex on men to get an advantage, I was totally turned-off. These three unhappy and self-destructive losers were painful to watch and their loudness made me want to bolt the theatre. I found nothing empathetic nor interesting about these three. Only a few of the women in the audience laugh at some of the wordage or the physical comic scenes mostly from the drinking or snorting.
By the time Jeff (Adam Soule) and Joe (Eric Burgher) arrive, Jeff to lure Regan into bed and Joe to try to help Katie from her drunken maze, I couldn’t care what happens to the three loser women. All the noise and gross-out actions of the women made for a long 80 minutes. I can not find any redeeming value to Bachelorette since we witness actions like Katie barfing on the stage among other crude actions. This is a worthless work that seems to appeal to our base crudeness. Profiles Theatre usually picks better plays.
Not Recommended
Tom Williams
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2012
At Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL, call 773-549-1815, tickets $35 – $40, Thursday & Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 5 & 8pm, Sundays at 7 pm, running time is 80 minutes without intermission, through March 11, 2012