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By LORRIE LYKINSThe gay-themed Slap & Tickle lives up to its name, with starkness and silliness.
ST. PETERSBURG - Watching Gypsy Productions' Slap & Tickle is kind of like standing in front of the revolving door at Macy's. With each revolution, anyone can emerge from the spinning, glittering whirl. In the case of Slap & Tickle, at the Suncoast Resort, it could be any one of 45 characters who pop in and out of scenes with energetic pacing that prevents wristwatch-checking or dozing.
Slap & Tickle is a 90-minute theatrical crash course on gay bathhouse culture, past and present. Written by New York playwright David Parr, Slap & Tickle doesn't glorify reckless hedonism; rather, it illuminates the sanctuary that bathhouses offer gay men.
Alternately silly, sarcastic and introspective, the six-member ensemble portrays a diverse group of bathhouse customers - each calling himself "Rob" - in a sophisticated collage of fast-paced episodes, experiences and flashbacks. Parr's characters tell their stories with gritty honesty, self-deprecating wit and graphic language.
The play is narrated by a doorman (John Russo), a sort of no-nonsense tour guide who introduces each character and reminds the audience of the "house rules." The doorman is accompanied by Lady Di (Jeffrey Kin), a drag performer who remains onstage as co-narrator and well-coifed schoolmarm, instructing us on the nuances of bathhouse culture. Kin, who stepped in when the actor playing the role was injured in a car accident, is elegant and subtle, ironic and witty.
Director Trevor Keller skillfully moves the actors around the small stage, and Christopher Brill's sparse set design works well: Two benches flanked by a shower and locker room area are enough to set the scene without imposing on the action.
Joseph Alan Johnson's "Rob" character describes his first visit to a gay bar in Cleveland and the sight of men dancing with men as "the prom I always wanted to go to," with starry-eyed nostalgia. Don Dupree is chillingly effective as a calculating and remorseless predator, a sharp contrast to Daniel J. Harris' portrayal of an awkward elementary schoolteacher visiting the bathhouse for the first time. Larry Buzzeo is touching in his portrayal of Billy Sunday, an aging regular who sports pink socks and a string of pearls with his bath towel.
Slap & Tickle has its dark moments. Promiscuity, safe sex and the AIDS epidemic are discussed. Obsession with physicality is explored, and in an environment where looks and youth are still at a premium, Billy Sunday laments, "You don't have to be old to feel loneliness."