One-Act Triptych

Relax. That's a little advice for Unicorn Theatre audiences as Ron Simonian — local playwright, stand-up comic and strip-club host — preps Liquid Morality (his one-two-three punch of one-act plays) for a trip to Chicago. When his men start their scabrous talk and his women flounce onstage as cartoon strippers or polyamorous lesbians, and you worry whether you can laugh along and still be a good person, surrender to it. There are belly laughs, and there are underbelly laughs; in hysterical one-acts such as "The Sting of Love" (about men gabbing in a holding cell after being busted for solicitation) or "Daily Grind" (about the nexus of business and politics backstage at a strip joint), Simonian offers both by the heap. He's not presenting the world as it is; he's presenting it through the eyes of a certain breed of horny, frustrated, tough-talking white men. And often, among the cock talk and occasional dips into pure fantasy, he reveals these bastards' hearts. "The Sting of Love" debuted at this year's Actors' Equity Showcase, where it offended some but delighted many more. Nobody barrels on like a Simonian loudmouth, especially when voiced barking alpha actors Tom Moriarty, Scott Cordes, Pete Weber and Dean Vivian, who appear in tonight's premiere at the Unicorn Theatre's Jerome Stage (3828 Main, 816-531-7529). A $12 donation is requested.
Thu., Oct. 30, 2008