Playwright: Bob Fisher. At: The Mammals at Zoo Studio, 4001 N. Ravenswood. Phone: 866-593-4614; $20. Runs through Aug. 27
Many theatergoers know the perils new plays where the playwright is also the director. The storytelling often suffers since there isn't an interpreter to challenge or clarify the playwright's intensions.
Bob Fisher's Put My ____ in Your ____ aka Your 15 minutes of Finger, now presented by The Mammals at Zoo Studio, is hindered due to this playwright/director dynamic. Additionally, Fisher is also responsible for the show's lighting and complex video projections, giving an extra sense that the emphasis is more on style instead of substantive storytelling.
Put My _____… appears to be a nonsensical fantasy mash-up of Andy Warhol's 1960s pop art world and pop culture's current-day fascination with the undead. There's potential in this conceit, but the whole enterprise stumbles along due to a muddled storyline and missing historical context.
Put My ____… focuses on two symbolically named orphans named Birdy (Erin Orr as the sister who wants to flee the nest to party) and Turtle (Stacie Hauenstein as the sister who is content to nest at home by worshiping a portrait of their Elvis Presley-loving late mother and watching TV reruns of America's Funniest Home Videos).
Birdy falls in with an undead pop artist filmmaker named Snail (dressed like Andy Warhol) and his shallow art factory followers. Birdy becomes obsessed with Snail's ability to administer hallucinogens to anyone who touches him, and is soon in danger of losing the vestiges of her family by becoming a full-time follower.
Fisher and his cast and crew go all out to create a weird black-and-white mod world of amusingly more-stylish-than-thou artsy types with a sinister undercurrent. Many cast members go all out in their roles as bitchy gay gatekeepers and willowy mod fashion plates, adding bright spots to the otherwise incongruous plotting.
Put My _____… would have benefited if Fisher had more clearly underlined the characters' dramatic stakes and the vampire-like fantasy rules that govern this trendy subterranean art world. And anyone unfamiliar with Warhol's New York Factory scene (depicted so well in the 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol) will undoubtedly be at a loss to relate to what Fisher is spoofing.
Hence we really don't care for the fate of the sparring sisters, nor do we understand why so much hinges on Snail's need to find a single ultra-devoted female follower to continue living his altered life after he was shot by a former follower (probably Valerie Jean Solanas).
I guess I should add that Put My _____… proudly advertises itself as BYOB, which might make the proceedings more fun if you're soused. But if you're sober, Put My ____… will only be admirable for its wacky sense of style rather than its sub-par fantasy storytelling.