‘Lexi Star’s Privates’

Lexi Star’s Privates
Warehouse Theater – Next Door

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 19 @ 2:00 PM
Friday, July 25 @ 6:00 PM
Sunday, July 27 @ Noon

They say: “A new play about a suicidal man and the porn starlet that stands in the way of him offing himself. This dark comedy explores how when strangers meet and connect, their lives can be changed forever.”

Brett’s take: It is hard to write a play. Things don’t even have to go wrong; they just have to be not quite enough, just a little under- or overcooked. What author (and NYU MFA Playwriting alumnus) Malcom Pelles has here is a play that clearly shows some serious script-cooking. Jokes turn on carefully established character traits; secrets are revealed in a measured, intelligent way; the characters benefit from Pelles caring about them as human beings. …But. The play just isn’t done.

The plot concerns a meeting between unproduced screenwriter and all-around nebbishy guy Bradley (Edward Daniels does a good job of playing against his muscular physical type, if a bit lax when things get heavy) and a porn star named Lexi Star (Mikhel Wirtanen does everything she can, and does it well – expect good things from her). They meet at a motel room for a “private” – a.k.a. sex for money, which apparently many porn stars do to nab an extra buck from their fans. Read the rest of this entry »