Greetings From Planet Girl
February 5, 2003
What do rubber vaginas, sin, and S&M have in common? Perhaps that they are all covered with humor and frankness in “Greetings From Planet Girl,” a medley of short sketches, skits, and musical numbers covering religion, bingo, and the pop-culture feminist response involving one of UMB’s own alum, Dorothy Dwyer.
An actress and one of the directors of “Planet Girl,” Dwyer brings to the stage her own unique mix of brash, bold, and, at times, comedic take on life. She has performed in films such as “Lost Eden,” “In Dreams,” and “Night Deposit.” Most recently, she will be seen helping Julia Roberts up from a fall in the snow in the upcoming feature film, “Mona Lisa Smile.”
“Planet Girl,” itself, features the talents of Margaret Ann Brady, Jan Davidson, Lucy Holstedt, Cyndi Freeman, Julie Perkins, and, of course, Dorothy Dwyer. This off-color collection opens with “Another Opening, Another Show.” In this piece, the ladies have their backs to the audience and chat at random about the unhygienic affects of sharing mascara before shrieking in fear once they realize they were being watched by an audience.
The show will knock you off guard and keep you guessing, never knowing just what to expect. Some of it, such as “Cunt Talk” and “Confession” could have been lifted right out of “The Vagina Monologues,” as they are similar in their ability to take a lighthearted look at unmentionable areas. Yet, for all the influence Ensler’s playmight have had, the performance also features pokes at Christianity and fairy tales.
“Dish & Spoon” takes a look at the origins of a torrid and passionate affair between the minorly disfigured Dish and the silver Spoon. This meeting of utensils began, by chance, in the drying rack. Spoon, although involved with a salad fork, asks Dish out to hear the “Cat and the Fiddle” live. The plot thickens when Spoon finds out that Dish is destined for a yard sale because of the damage left over from a traumatic moving accident. That’s when they decide they must run away. Who ever thought the existence of a dining utensil could be so difficult?
A three-part feature, titled “Blessed Mother…and Holy Girl,” follows the life of the Virgin Mary, post-crucifixion, with her sidekick, and their various adventures in combating evil. “The widow of a carpenter has many splinters to pull,” she explains, at one point. Together, with the aid of a helpful spotlight and a chorus of angels behind them, these self-styled “sin stoppers” manage to sway the conscience of a king and a thief and combat the starvation of a refugee with a special selection of deli foods and carbonation.
“The Pitch” deals a sharp blow to corporate America and the music industry combined. An executive attempts to create another formulaic sitcom using a Britney Spears clone with the IQ of a sheep. She tries to control the teen “star” by proposing plot after plot, tossing in buzzwords such as “edgy” and “sassy” while the clone merely raves about her Barbie-esque ideals of femininity involving rainbows, princesses, and the color pink. She is utterly incapable of making responses, dwelling as she does in her rose-colored dream house. Finally, the Donna Karan diva, exhausted from pitching inane ideas, relents, anything to get rid of the drooling MTV programmed faux-musician, so she can have a good, long cry.
From there on, it builds to its humorous climax “Bite This!,” a musical number with a chorus line of dancing rubber vaginas singing about the “vagina dentata,” “a subconscious belief that a woman may devour or consume her partner during sex, believed to be aroused by the mouth-symbolism of the vagina,” as the program reads. Heady symbolism for a hysterically funny closing number that begins with a discussion of the glass ceiling women face in the money and immorality laden offices of America.
“Greetings From Planet Girl” runs through February 23 at the Charlestown Working Theatre (at the Sullivan Square T stop, off the Orange Line) playing at 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 7pm on Sundays. Tickets are $15, or $12 for senior citizens and students. Call (781) 648-5963 to order or buy at the door. See the show while you can.