Review: Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex

Review: Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex  | And Toto Too Theatre Company | Denver, CO | Curtain Up! | Gina Robertson

With its compelling title and gifted cast, Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex brings to Denver’s Buntport Theater a raucous evening of entertainment in a long one-act piece made up of several short comedy skits. The unrelated shorts are tied together by playwright Edith Weiss, who appears between scenes doing stand-up comedy, engaging the audience directly in a way that is “hardly participatory or immersive.”

Producing this play is And Toto Too, whose mission has been supporting women playwrights and artists in the Denver area for more than twenty years. Fierce Satire uses a set style that Artistic Director Susan Lyles refers to as “a black box for every show,” which works well here in moving attention from each scenic space to the next. Lighting design by Miriam Suzanne helps set the mood and change the tone, but many scenes are extremely dark, and the performers could benefit from brighter, more direct lighting.

This eclectic cast works hard in each vignette, portraying a variety of unrelated characters, young and old, both human and divine, and even some insect species. As a woman who has unexpectedly been reincarnated as a human after a short life as a bee, Meredith Young makes very bee-like motions and sounds very much, too, like a forlorn bee. She really shines, though, as the bloodthirsty Tamora in a game show for Shakespearean characters.

Sweet, sad Ophelia (Jeff Jesmer) is hilarious in the game show skit, drowned and prone to effusive crying, while Jesmer’s charming drawl in another skit endears himself as a lovable cricket, one that anyone would be pleased to take life advice from. As Father Gander he demonstrates a commonly felt frustration with political correctness and censorship of casual language.

Jeff Jesmer and Sophia Badia | Photo Credit Brian Landis Folkins

Sophia Badia shows off her agility with accents as Mistress Quickly and as “Shirley” the kidnapper. Her poem delivered as the character Syringe is unforgettable, a tribute to female genitalia. She also grapples with the topic referenced by the title, mediocre sex, in discussion with a cricket found in her backyard.

Finally, the smiley, zesty game show host (Chris Kendall) becomes delightfully human as God in another scene, lying down with cucumbers on his eyes, repeating affirmations to boost confidence while St. Lawrence, patron saint of comedians, pesters him about an unfair loophole some have used to achieve entrance into Heaven.

Chris Kendall, Meredith Young, Sophia Badia | Photo Credit Brian Landis Folkins

The skits in this series are creative and unique, each with its own biting message and clever, thoughtful delivery by a talented cast. Weiss herself performs comedy with a friendly, engaging manner that serves to draw the audience into each next scene appearing on stage. Her comfortable sense of mischief becomes a theme within each set and ties together the overall show.

Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex appears at Buntport Theater through February 28.

For information and tickets: https://www.andtototoo.org/fiercesatireandmediocresex