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by Stephen Massicotte, directed by Jim Millan

Crow’s Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto

March 30-April 17, 2005

Stephen Massicotte deserves full credit for boldness if nothing else.  The Calgary playwright takes the topic of pornography’s effect on relationships head on in the Toronto debut of his play Pervert, now retitled The Dirty/Beautiful.  The new title with its slash is more accurate since much of the play is concerned with defining the boundary between what is acceptable and unacceptable whether in porn or in life.

Tim (Shaun Smyth) willingly takes the night shift at an adult video store, but this takes its toll on his relationship with live-in girlfriend Trish (Kirstin Hinton).  Meanwhile, Lisa (Tamara Podemski) wants to spice up her love life with her husband Mike (Tony Nappo) by watching hard-core videos, leading them to some surprising strap-on action.  Then there is Kurt (Richard Clarkin), a comic porn connoisseur who views the women in videos as “dates.”           

Despite the fascinating questions he raises, Massicotte is so narrowly focussed on his theme, he neglects to create fully rounded characters and needlessly ends the play in melodrama.  Smyth and Podemski are best at suggesting complexities in Tim and Lisa, but Hinton has nothing to work with and Nappo is too bland for a character who is actively duplicitous. 

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2005-04-07.

Photo: Tony Nappo and Tamara Podemski. ©2005