#GodHates Hashtags
Playwrights: Kathy Betts, Christopher Lotito, Jamie Newland, Clay Goodpasture, John Loos, Alexandria Miller, Becca Levine and Robin Trevino. At: GayCo at Donny's Skybox, 1616 N. Wells St., 4th Floor. Tickets: 312-337-3992; www.gayco.com; $13-$16. Runs through: Oct. 19
Sweet Child of Mine
Playwrights: Bron Batten and Jim Batten. At: Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. Tickets: 773-275-5255; www.neofuturists.org; $10-$20. Runs through: Sept. 21
Debuts can be very difficult because expectations can be unreasonably high. This is especially true if a show is opening a newly renovated space, like GayCo's #GodHatesHashtags does, or if a show is making a U.S. debut after a series of acclaimed international fringe-festival runs like the Neo-Futurists' presentation of the Australian creation Sweet Child of Mine.
In the case of GayCo, the Chicago's oldest LGBT sketch comedy troupe, the company is having a homecoming back at The Second City, where it got its start. GayCo is also one of the first shows to open the remodeled Donny's Skybox space, which has been reconfigured lengthwise to resemble a smaller version of The Second City's Mainstage space.
Alas, GayCo hasn't brought its best material to the fore in #GodHatesHashtags. The title alone suggests that you'll be seeing sketches centered on social media and anti-gay trolls, especially with the play on words with a favorite slogan by a certain hateful family church based in Kansas. But strangely these topics aren't explored in depth here, and the other sketches that GayCo presents only spurs on chuckles and titters rather than full-out laughs.
Under the direction of Andy Eninger, the eight-member cast of writer/performers take on issues like the youth who hang out at the Center on Halsted (they talk street but are as sensitive and helpful as an Oprah Winfrey audience), gay surrogacy in song and possessive lesbian relationships (which takes on a disturbing tinge, especially when Becca Levine and Kathy Betts have clearly drawn upon the recent Cleveland kidnapping scandal for their material).
Other sketches aiming to be edgy are just downright uncomfortable, particularly the gay dads discussing the significance of their adopted daughter's first abortion. Others cry out for more elaborate choreography, especially the all-lesbian synchronized swimming routines.
There are bright spots, like the sexually explicit gay Parisian cruising pantomime sequence that John Loos and Clay Goodpasture perform. But the majority of #GodHatesHashtags doesn't feel like GayCo brought its A-game material to share.
Much more enjoyable, although not quite as probing as I was expecting, is the Australian fringe export Sweet Child of Mine. The show concerns 29-year-old artist Bron Batten questioning the pretension of performance art she's done in the past, and directly asking her parents what they think of her career.
To do so, Batten screens some very amusing video question sessions with her sixtysomething parents, and she recreates highlights of her bewildering past work. Also physically on hand is her father, Jim Batten, who takes questions from the audience and who also does a bit of amusing performing himself.
One thing missing is Batten explicitly stating whether or not she feels her participation in avant garde theater has been ultimately worthwhile or not. But ultimately Sweet Child of Mine is undeniably touching and very funny, as it allows Batten to share pivotal moments from her artistic career, only to have her parents' honest reactions "take the piss" out of them.
