Atlanta Adult Entertainment: Shopping and F***king not quite as fun as it sounds
Posted on August 16th, 2010 in Atlanta adult entertainment
Now a resident company at OnStage Atlanta, Process Theatre walks a line between humor and revulsion with Shopping and F***king. Brian weeps whenever he recalls the sentimental scenes of a hit Disney film, but happily terrorizes Lulu and Robbie when they get on his bad side. Sowell captures Brian’s incongruous humor more effectively than the role’s intimidating qualities, and suggests Steve Coogan cast as one of Quentin Tarantino’s pop-savvy hit men.
Most artists who critique consumer culture target middle-class suburbanites, but Ravenhill scrutinizes big-city bottom feeders who seek Ecstasy in pill form. When Lulu and Robbie turn to phone sex to raise money, their flat almost resembles a public broadcasting pledge drive, only the constantly ringing phones interrupt scripted dirty talk. Overall, though, Shopping and F***king’s characters don’t seem to have a materialism problem. They have a drug abuse, prostitution and gangster problem. Metaphors such as the idea that prepackaged microwave meals foster individual isolation simply come across as hackneyed, and a sinister, climactic game of Truth or Dare feels like imitation Harold Pinter with more explicit brutality.
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