Well, kudos to the Culture Project's Out of Iceland for leaving me at a loss for words. Unfortunately, that's about the kindest thing I could say about it. Honestly, I don't even know how to review a show this unentertainingly bad. If they're even remotely like this one, please let me never see another play by Drew Larimore. I can't judge Josh Hecht's direction because the play itself is so bad. Maybe he took it on just because he loves Lea DeLaria as much as I do? I mean, I also made the poor decision to see the show because she's in it. Now we both know better.
The good:
* DeLaria is always a pleasure to watch. She's great here as a mischievous troll(?) with a wandering accent. I also loved her in Prometheus Bound at the A.R.T., and she's the main reason I bought a ticket to Out of Iceland.
* DeLaria's tattoos. No, this has nothing to do with the show, but they gave me something else to watch as I counted down the minutes until I could leave the theater.
* DeLaria's blue pseudo-mohawk. It's hot.
* Stagehand mimes. More amusing for them actually existing as part of this production than anything in particular that they do. Say it with me now: STAGEHAND MIMES.
* It's short, so there's time to drink yourself into oblivion afterward.
The bad:
* Everything else.
No, really, pretty much everything else. The plot is trite even though it's cloyingly quirky at the same time. The characters are unbelievable, but not in a fun campy way. The dialogue is just terrible. The acting is bad, particularly from Jillian Crane, who takes bad material and then somehow makes it worse. Michael Bakkensen manages to be charming sometimes despite everything. But his Southern accent is awful.
Note to actors: Sounding Southern is not the same as sounding like the stereotype of a learning-disabled child. Also, not everyone in the South has the same accent. Stop being so lazy.
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