Playwright: Lisa Loomer
At: Rivendell Theatre Ensemble at the Storefront, 66 E. Randolph St.
Phone: ( 312 ) 742-8497; $15
Runs through: March 5
Lisa Loomer's play may exhibit all the latest obstetrical jargon, but it hearkens back to the rube comedies of the 1950s, both in its promotion of the procreative ethic and in its upper-Manhattan chauvinism. With the commercial success of The Vagina Monologues and Menopause: The Musical, however, it was only a matter of time before another author attempting to wring laughs from female innards jumped aboard the OB-GYN bandwagon.
The story this time involves a couple recounting how they sacrificed their jobs, their savings, their home and nearly their marriage in their efforts to gestate a Little Bundle of Joy. But while nature has rendered the construction and obsolescence of baby-making organs reasonably uniform, social considerations make for widely varying opinions regarding use of this equipment. Loomer mostly ignores these, introducing questions of whether the Saracini spouses SHOULD initiate this project, and at what point they would be advised to abandon it, then quickly dismissing discussion thereof in order to make way for madcap sitcom shtick, complete with cartoon music substituting for a laugh track.
Miranda works for a greeting card company composing—how cute!—condolences for pet owners. Nick is a househusband—how sweet!—and occasional artist. The former's widowed mother is a superficial, martini-swilling WASP and the latter's family are noisy, grappa-guzzling, marginally racist Italians. We also meet crazed immigrant cabbies ( haw-haw ) , earthy former hippies ( yuk-yuk ) , spaced-out support-group leaders ( ho-ho ) , womb-envious gay men ( wink-wink ) , insensitive doctors ( grumble-grumble ) , big-bosomed nurses ( hubba-hubba ) , air-headed suburban teenagers ( tee-hee ) , strung-out boho chicks ( snicker-snicker ) , saintly Puerto Rican matrons ( boo-hoo ) , frustrated actresses who rank regional theater employment alongside gang-banging or drug-addiction ( giggle-giggle ) , and many more retainers from the New York School of Snobbery.
The Rivendell Ensemble strives mightily to lend style, if not substance, to this arthritic material, delivering smartly-timed and slickly choreographed performances in the best Garry Marshall mode. But while Loomer's intent was probably to invoke chuckles of recognition from parents recalling their own experiences—whattaya bet this play has an extensive track record on the dinner-theater circuit?—Expecting Isabel's relentlessly chirpy pronatalism is just as likely to swell the membership of the Malthus Society.