This year I had about a half dozen shows I wanted to get to, but so far I've only made it to one. It was definitely not a disappointment, I really enjoyed myself.
"Birds & Bees" is a tough show for me to review honestly because I know both people in the show, but I'm going to do my best.
The show follows a couple talking about where they are now. They talk about the various stages of their relationship, with scenes cutting back to show the happy, sex-crazed, early part of the relationship; the "all I can do is think about him, why won't he call me" and "I'll call her later, I'm going to read a book now" stage; and the "big fight".
The show ends with a choice. The audience gets to choose from three endings: happy, sad, and amicable separation. I've read other reviews saying that this is a good way to get people to come back to see the show again, although this is no guarantee you'll see a new ending (unless you bring a bunch of your negative friends to root for the "bad" ending....or something similar with the other endings).
As a whole, I really enjoyed this show. I laughed a lot, I enjoyed the music, and it does hit a true spot with me, and probably with just about anyone out there. When times get tough, like during the "big fight", you have to make a choice. And that's where the cost benefit analysis comes in. It's not always "the hot sexy time" vs "the big fight" time, there are a lot more variables involved, but we've all been there. Is it worth sticking around? What should we do? Too bad we don't always have an audience to choose for us!
The show starts with the cast talking, and cuts to a video of an older band performance, which is the night they met, and there is a picture slideshow of the couple during their early part of their relationship. I really liked the concept, but this is the part of the show where I was confused. Particularly with the slideshow. At this point, I wasn't really sure that we were seeing a couple. Their early banter didn't make that clear enough for me, and the slides showed the two of them having fun, but most of the pictures could have been some good friends hanging out. Near the end of the slideshow, there is one picture of the couple kissing, but my general confusion about their relationship left me wondering if it was just the angle that made me think it was a kiss.
Once the video and picture part of the show was done, and the acting part of the show started with the "flashback" scenes, things became very clear. And this is the part I enjoyed the most. I felt like the use of media was clever, but could have been left out of this particular show. Like it would have fit in better somewhere else.
But that's it, the rest of the show was a lot of fun. There were lots of little one-liners that I loved:
Lady: "I'm going to sing you a song I wrote for you. Why don't you sing along?"
Guy: "Oh, I know this one? Ok, I'll play with you."
Just clever and subtle.
"Birds & Bees: A Cost Benefit Analysis" plays at the Broken Leg Stage, and they have two shows left, on Saturday at 1PM and 5:30PM. Not a great show for young kids due to language and a little sexual content. Check out their Rogue page here: http://roguefestival.com/rogue2011/?p=119
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