Written by: Joe DiPietro
Directed by: David Zak. At: The Broadway Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway. Tickets: PrideFilmAndPlays.com: $25-30. Runs through: Aug. 26
Pride Films and Plays is presenting Joe DiPietro's Fucking Mena production that is not as salacious as it sounds.
This play centers around the interactions of men in several connected vignettes exploring gay male sexuality, intimacy and connection. Instead of sex scenes, we have dance numbers by choreographers Jake Ganzer, Daniel Hurst, James Mueller and Katelyn Stosswith results varying from interesting to unintentionally funny.
However, the cast is uniformly terrific, and some standouts include a charismatic performance by Roy Samra as a porn star, Conor McGarry as a cocky college student, Lars Ebsworth adding comic relief as a frantic playwright and Whitman Johnson as a hustler whose desperation is palpable.
This play is about nine years old but seems pretty dated. References to porn videos, renting movies, Blackberries and a star being hated for coming out seem from another time. However, he themes of the relationships are universal and timeless. The topics of navigating open relationships, sexuality, coming out etc are still worth exploring. This is the type of show where the coffee discussion afterward with friends will be as interesting as the show itself.