Audience Needs A Prozac With "Women Are Crazy..."

With a such a titillating title, "Women are Crazy Because Men are Assholes", holds itself to have great promise in describing the dynamic that often captivates and also infuriates the trials and tribulations of couples in both love and lust. This title could be on the New York Times top 10 list of self-help books in the ongoing human saga to describe how relationships are build up and broken down. Alas, all that is hoped for is lost in this misguided production written and staged by Brad T. Gottfred. What is the most disappointing is that, for the most part, Gottfred as assembled a very capable and attractive cast. They are able to deliver laughs with some wonderful chemistry between them; however they are never given the opportunity to explore their individual characters to a point where there is any type of development.

The premise of the play revolves around five couples on a single day, which is supposed to a game-changer. The central story line features the couples gathering for a brunch thrown by Nicole (Mandy Henderson) to meet Dylan (Kimani Shillingford)who she met some months back on the internet and for which they share an intimate Skyping sexual relationship. Dylan discovers that there is no future between them, but instead falls for her sister Bella (Deanna Smith) who is involved with Reynold ( Blake Boyd). The best scenes and comedy come from Mandy (J.J. Nolan) and her love-lorn boyfriend (Trevor Morgan) who maintains terrific sexual angst between them. Ms. Nolan has terrific timing and instinctively knows how to manipulate a line for the right amount of humor without it being forced.

There in lies the real problem with this production. As both the writer and director, Mr. Gottfred needs to get out of the show's own way and let another person's vision bring his words to the stage. The director's background is film oriented and that two dimensional type of story telling does not translate to the world of stage. Under Mr. Gottfred's direction, the actors are suffocated to a point where there is nowhere for them to go as far as any type of character development. The lines are forced only to get a cheap laugh without any meaningful truth behind what the actors are speaking. Though Mr. Gottfred has tried to write something farcical, the script is not realized enough to make the transition from raunchy comedy to an absurdist farce, something which these actors, if given the chance, could clearly handle.

The set for Women are Crazy is equally as incomplete as the script. There is no credit given for any scenic or lighting design, which makes one wonder if Mr. Gottred has handled that as well. Both are thrown together with misplaced furniture that gets in the actors way, and some of the harshest lighting that washes out most of the male actors. Also, a note for the house manager of the Greenhouse Theatre, please keep a watch on when audience members are entering and leaving the theatre, as throughout the performance, patrons constantly disrupted the actors.

Women are Crazy…is now in its third incarnation. First in Los Angeles, then a brief run at the Mercury in July and after this mounting is supposedly going off-Broadway. Here is hoping that the script and the actors get the attention they deserve before embarking on the East coast.

"Women are Crazy Because Men are Assholes" plays at the Greenhouse Theater Center located at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue through September 25th. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. , Saturdays at 5 and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m.Tickets start at $29.69 and are available at the box office, by phone at 773-404-7336 or online at www.greenhousetheater.org.