Verbal swordplay, snake oil, and low farce

SEXUAL PSYCHOBABBLE

By Lissa Moira and Richard West
Directed by Lissa Moira

“Low Accomodations” [sic] is out-and-out, unalloyed bedroom farce. Two groups of people (one a randy couple, the other a haute-snobbish gaggle of socialites) are thrown together into the same suite on New Year’s Eve. As the former copulate none-too-discretely on a nearby bed, the foursome attempt, unsuccessfully, to maintain a rarefied air to their cocktail banter. Eventually, the air of raw, funky horniness in the room overcomes them all and the foursome ends up in an even more frenetic orgy than the lowbrows they had previously disdained. It’s a good idea for a framing device, but opening night chaos subverted most of the desired comedic effect.

Moira’s trenchant writing is matched by a fresh, cliche-free directorial style. She tends to frame the action in almost comic-book panels but keeps it from losing its human dimension with energetic ensemble work from the cast. Ivy Levinson was hilariously pretentious as the hyper-Freudian sex therapist. Eric Benz switched nicely from predatory reptile to wounded idealist. Nicole Landers and Joseph Farrugia danced broadly along the line between farce and cartoon, drawing many a belly-laugh.

Moira herself made for a transcendentally cynical New Age hooker and an anarchic cyclone of lust as the socialite gang-banger.

Sexual Psychobabble made for a goodly amount of intelligent fun and is well worth your time.

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