Nina Metz

Texting, Margot Bordelon points out, is an awful lot like note-passing in junior high. Have we grown up, only to regress? In "Love, Valor, and Technology," her winningly observed one-woman show—currently part of Live Bait Theater’s Fillet of Solo Festival—Bordelon analyzes the ways in which cell phones and MySpace have invaded the early flirt stages of a relationship. Blending cute with an intelligent quirkiness, she presents herself as the rare person under thirty who has not come to grips with the stigma of Internet dating: "I would always judge him for answering a Craig’s List ad," she says of one seemingly ideal prospect. As directed by Cassandra Sanders, the show has an appealing self-assured polish that only highlights Bordelon’s essential bafflement. Three other monologues are on the bill through Saturday, as well (the summer-long programming changes every two weeks), and like Bordelon’s monologue, each work relates to language and failed communication. Arlene Malinowski’s "Till Deaf Do Us Part" is a standout, in which she recalls introducing her hearing fiancé to her deaf parents. Malinowski is an astute writer (her mother signs with fingers that barely tickle the air; her father signs like a conman playing a shell game) and she effortlessly conveys her conflicted feelings, as well as the blundering mishaps that occur between the hearing and the deaf. The work feels unique and engrossing (as directed by Ann Filmer) and it has an unforced sense of humor. In "Word Perfect," Christopher Devine tells of his stint as a door-to-door salesman of the Oxford English Dictionary. The monologue is precious and intentionally overwrought, but every time you find yourself losing patience, Devine redeems himself (with the help of Bordelon's direction). There is an extended riff on Devine's lousy Tempur-Pedic mattress—which he likens, unfavorably, to a "warm bowl of oatmeal"—that is vividly written and one of the funniest things I’ve heard all year. Brian Lobel’s "The View From My Side of the Nose (Redux)" is notable for its meta-theatrics; Lobel uses cue cards to tell (and comment) on his 17-year-old self—a gawky, big-nosed, pimple-faced kid who is shot down repeatedly by his crush, a girl he deems beautiful and slutty. There is not much insight—Lobel has since switched to men, but offers scant hints that he was aware of his homosexuality as a teen—and yet he presents himself as such a self-deprecating mess, there is something laugh-worthy in his exaggerated portrayal of romantic washouts.

"Fillet of Solo: In So Many Words" runs at Live Bait Theater, 3914 North Clark, (773)871-1212, through July 7.

(2007-07-02)

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There is a certain on-stage decorum at Second City that tends to buff down the rough edges of comedy. Maybe that is what prime-time crowds expect. Things are looser and not so aggressively clever a few miles north at i.O.
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Rolin Jones' play from 2005 might be the only finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in drama that includes the line, "Fuck you too, Mr. Arm." So it has that going for it
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(2007-01-09)

Tip of the Week
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Backstage
(2006-06-06)

Tip of the Week
(2006-01-31)

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(2005-12-27)

Tip of the Week
(2005-12-06)

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