Theatre review: That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play

I have no idea how to explain or define this play.

I loved it, that’s certain. It’s definitely one of the most fun, most seemingly random, and most high-energy shows I’ve ever seen. I laughed out loud more than I do at stand-up comedy routines, and I could not have predicted anything that happened in this play to save my life (which is a good thing). But it’s hard to say what actually happened, and what that meant.

That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play could be seen as a feminist polemic against men, male power, and the “boys will be boys” mentality, but any attempt at a unifying theme is really an afterthought. Two ex-strippers go on a cross-country rampage, killing men at pro-life conventions and then blogging about it; later a male screenwriter, together with his friend Rodney (“The Rod”) use their story as inspiration for a war movie. But the lines of reality are distinctly hazy in this play; Jane Fonda (in full aerobic mode) appears as muse and heroine several times, there’s a dream sequence involving a dinner party gone awry, and there’s even full-blown Jell-O wrestling. Props to the hair metal soundtrack; only Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake could do justice to the play’s blatant and unabashed sexuality. Playwright Sheila Callaghan called it “a wild ride through a certain male psyche,” and it’s definitely a romp through the dark corners of someone’s psyche, male or otherwise. She also said that, “It’s critiquing the images at the same time it’s trafficking in them,” and that may be the statement that best summarizes this play.

Don’t expect it to make sense—just sit back and enjoy the ride. In the very last scene, the pieces start to tie together, but only in a basic way. Nevertheless, it’s ribald, shameless, and exuberant. The cast is fantastic; I particularly enjoyed watching Lisa Joyce again (Red Light Winter, Blackbird) and Annie McNamara as the chirpy but slightly clueless Jane Fonda. Director Kip Fagan has done a fine job of shaping what could be an imagistic mess into a play with momentum and power. And the designers have done a great job of keeping a props, lights and transitions-heavy piece as fluid as possible; the scene changes have been built into the action in some very clever ways. Particularly clever was the transformation of a hotel room desk into a dining room table and then into a Jell-O wrestling pit.

13P, a collective of working downtown playwrights, are known for producing offbeat plays (Have You Seen Steve Steven?, The Penetration Play), but this may be the strangest yet. Which just makes me want to see more, both of Sheila Callaghan’s work and 13P’s in general—which may ultimately be the highest compliment anyone can give to a play.


Written by Sheila Callaghan
Directed by Kip Fagan
With Joseph Gomez, Lisa Joyce, Greg Keller, Annie McNamara and Danielle Slavick
Set Design: Narelle Sissons
Lighting Design: Matt Frey
Costume Design: Jessica Pabst
Sound Design: Eric Shim
Running Time: 95 minutes with no intermission
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place; 212-868-4444
Tickets $40
Wednesday through Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm
February 10 – March 15, 2009