Photo: Ian Johnston; Francesca Mondelli in Annex Theater’s “Kittens In A Cage”
Published at TheSunbreak.com August 14, 2012.
Okay. I shouldn’t like
Kittens in a Cage at Annex Theatre (through August 25th;
tickets).
I really shouldn’t. It’s a riff on lezploitation and reminded me of a
really bad ’70s softcore porn about lesbians in prison that someone (who
was totally not me) might have watched on Skinemax when they were
fifteen. But I can’t help it. I love
Kittens in a Cage.
Yes, it’s campy. There’s not a message, or a greater purpose. There’s
a one-armed matron who has all the vigor (and lines) from a B-movie
villain. There’s no redemption and the most traumatizing thing that
happens actually doesn’t matter because this is a land without lasting
consequences for our leading ladies.
But it has a ukelele! A pretty lady sings with a southern twang (I’m
from Tennessee so this made my stomach backflip)! And gorgeous women
kissing one another and having feelings! And I learned so many new ways
to refer to my genitalia (most of them were fish related, but still they
were clever)! And it’s the first show I’ve seen in a long time that has
an all-female cast with a female playwright (ladies writing about
lady-loving–unheard of)!
Under impeccable direction by Bret Fetzer,
Kittens in a Cage
by Kelleen Conway Blanchard is a joyous bad-girl romp through a
lesbian-loving field of daisies where bitches get shanked in the shower.
So, the plot–and there is one–focuses on Junie (played by the
dark-haired vixen Francesca Mondelli), who was unfortunately backstabbed
by her friends after innocently shooting a bankteller in the neck. It
could happen to anyone.
Junie’s no-good friends sold her out and she’s sent off to a woman’s
correctional facility run by the one-armed matron (Lisa Viertel) and the
rough around the edges prison guard, Nancy (Katie Driscoll). Viertel
and Driscoll play beautifully off each other with clear affection and
unrequited love though they both despise the uncleanliness of
homosexuality. (Their exchanges reminded me wonderfully of Captain
Monica Stark and Cookie in
Psycho Beach Party.)
Junie then becomes the object of affection as the “new fish” (sorry,
brief pause while I chuckle) in a pool of despicable inmates who are all
several steps away from the line of sanity. Quickly, Junie falls for
her cellmate, Vickie (played by the omg-I-want-to-cuddle-with-you Laurel
Ryan) which don’t sit right with the other fishes, specifically the big
kahuna, Jeanine.
Jeanine (Tracy Leigh), played with an accent that sounded unbelievably like
AppleJack from MLP: Friendship is Magic,
lusts after the seemingly simple Junie and has some of the best
references to vaginas and cunnilingus I have ever heard. Jeanine’s
over-the-top “I’m gonna get you” panache is paired with the subtle and
remarkable Erin Pike who plays the silent Barbara, incarcerated for
eating a girl scout troupe.
But of course, not all can be happy in a lesbian prison. Sigh. No.
You can’t just have hot people in skimpy outfits, lusting after one
another. We can’t just live in that world…of imprisonment. Oh no. Dark
and nefarious things are happening. Our resident crazy (played by the
seamlessly shifting Erin Stewart) comes to deliver the harrowing news in
true “I took a few too many blue pills,” fashion: The matron likes to
“fix” the inmates with science! Cue the sound of things buzzing and a
green light cue.
Speaking of lighting and sound, we have the talents of Tess Malone
and Kyle Thompson, respectively. Malone’s lights get creepy at all the
good parts. And Thompson’s SCIENCE! noises seemed to be taken direct
from
Bride of Frankenstein (in a good way). Not to mention the songs which I absolutely wanted more of, written by a very talented man named Rick Miller.
At this point I’d normally advocate for some deeper meaning.
Something that would elevate this play to the next level, make it more
than just a lesbian comedy with a lot of cleavage. But, I can’t do it.
In its B-movie, lezsploitation simplicity,
Kittens in a Cage
resonates. It’s not the same crap (see: wedding/dinner party gone awry).
It’s mocking exploitation as opposed to actively exploiting (seriously,
I stopped looking at cleavage when Junie started singing). And hey,
it’s actually funny in a clever way.
Especially in a season of Annex’s that has been unbelievably male (I’m looking at you,
Lewis and Clark),
Kittens overflows
with female talent with the additional bonus of incredible singing,
acting, grisly biting of license plates, and a truly funny script.
Kittens in a Cage
may not be a change-your-life night of theatre, but it’s certainly a
welcome relief to the heat. Especially in a time when women are still
having the “Women: Do they have a sense of humor?” debate, I’ll take
Kittens in a Cage over A. R. Gurney any day.
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