Food and Shelter, American Stage -- Bill Leavengood is the real thing, a writer with a voice all his own, but he is not especially well-served by Food & Shelter, the title given to a collection of four of his one-act plays now at American Stage. The quadruple bill gets off to a terrific start with a pair of perfectly realized gems: Dinosaur Limbo, a mordant take on Hollywood wheeler-dealers, and the surreal Irwin's Dilemma. But two larger works, Space Hunter and Bingo Night, are a letdown. The theater didn't do Leavengood any favors by dividing responsibility for the plays among three directors. The individual stagings are serviceable, but inevitably the foursome comes across as a stylistic grab bag, rather than a unified whole. The impression left by the production is oddly insubstantial. Instead of a strong shot of the playwright's work, it's Leavengood Lite. -- JOHN FLEMING, Times Performing Arts Critic

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The Ruins, or, Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires and the Law of Nature, Off Center Theater, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center -- Lap dancing, drugs and wacko parodies of Tampa's most colorful figures make up the backbone of this original agitprop musical from the Jobsite Theater Company. Don't bring the kids, and prepare to be offended. The show's hard-core comedy keeps the audience in hysterics even through its muddled surrealist message about sin, skin and the nature of civilization. It's witty, it's raw and it's art. (Or is it?) -- CHRISTOPHER BLANK, Times Correspondent

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Staking My Claim, Largo Cultural Center -- Despite the Midnight Cowboy-esque plot elements, this is a sweet, old-fashioned evening's fun, with cute pimps, cuter hookers and some pleasant songs. Tarpon Springs resident L.D. Donahue has constructed a solid framework for this musical, but the songs (save one) mostly convey plot without reaching the heart. Still, Staking My Claim may stake its claim on your heart for its good-natured affability. -- PETER SMITH, Times Correspondent

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