Live Nude Theater Cheap Cheap Cheap!

(Okay, a few of the performers in the nation's biggest Fringe Festival aren't nude. but a lot of them are.)

A A A Comments By Quinton Skinner Wednesday, Aug 10 2005

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What's an Indian Woman to Do?
RAVING NATIVE PRODUCTIONS
The situation surrounding What's an Indian Woman to Do? sounds like either an understudy's ultimate fantasy or her greatest nightmare. Actor Jenn Torres (scheduled to star in this one-woman show) unexpectedly had to drop out, leaving Simone Rendon to take over. Rendon does well portraying Belle, a woman exploring the complexity of her Native American heritage while scheming against her blond, blue-eyed, Ojibwe-speaking nemesis, Katrina. The cleverly written piece brings to light intriguing questions surrounding identity and cultural appropriation. However, during the performance I saw, it was hard to shake the inkling that the role was intended for someone else or that Rendon (understandably) wasn't yet comfortable as Belle--generating identity issues of an entirely different kind. Wed. 5:30 p.m., Fri. 8:30 p.m., Sun. 2:30 p.m. Interact Theatre. --Erin Adler

Colin Johnson

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Why Actors Can't Love
JUNE 1ST THEATER COMPANY
This short play is an unqualified pleasure. Chloe (Maggie Chestovich) and Patrick (Jim Lichtscheidl) are ex-lovers who meet up in a Chicago hotel room two years after a messy breakup. Chloe is an actress, and in the intervening years Patrick has penned a scathing memoir of her insincerity and shallowness. Soon enough, though, the pair finds there is still a low-key spark between them, and the question of whether they should reunite hangs in the air. The performances are spot-on and appealing, and Allan Staples's script is full of subtlety and laugh-out-loud lines. Terry Hempleman directs the cast to a near-perfect chemistry. Fri. 7:00 p.m., Sat. 2:30 p.m. The Jungle Theater. --Quinton Skinner