THE PRESENT PERFECT
The Present Perfect is a new comedy by writer/director/performer Kourtney Rutherford, who invariably comes up with something fresh, especially in her outings with the equally imaginative Jason Schuler, the show's co-producer and member of the five-person cast. "The whole play is about fetish," says Rutherford, "and people who are in love with their stuff." Rutherford plays an interior decorator, married to an ad executive, and the setting is an intimate cocktail party at their house, with two invited guests, also interior designers.
Since the play is about fancy furniture and those who covet it "in a romantic, sensual way," all the props, costumes and set pieces are for sale to the audience. (There will be a price list included in the program.) Many of the set items are choice, as sculptor Megan Biddle has decorated the apartment with her exotic glass works, and created an art collection for Rutherford's character. At the party, the foursome gets drunk. "We're nasty to each other, it's like Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff?," says Rutherford. "We switch roles. It's sort of like an alternative form of swinging -- with personalities." At some point, the fifth character, a "Bohemian wild child," enters, and "the others go crazy." In keeping with the theme of the show, they recently had a successful pre-show benefit in which the cast was auctioned off! Rutherford, ever the trooper, says, "We were inspired. I showed my ass and did the splits and we got an extra $45."
The Brick Theater, 575 Metropolitan Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (212) 868-4444. Apr. 26-May 14. Thurs.-Mon., 8 p.m. $15, $20.
THE SEA
Edward Bond, who dropped out of school at 15, joined the army and later worked as a laborer, started writing plays at the age of 30. He went on to become one of England's most respected playwrights, known for his disturbing and gritty scripts full of social and political criticism. His Saved, about repressed London youth, was originally banned.
This one is set in 1907, just before World War I, in a quiet, isolated East Anglian seaside village. "It's still relevant to modern audiences, and is Bond's only self-professed comedy," says The Actors Company Theater director Scott Alan Evans. "We wanted to do it because so much of it is about security, and the question is: How does one protect themselves from threats from beyond?" The village is located on the east coast of England, and there were threats of war coming from the continent at that time. At the beginning of the play a terrible storm hits, and a young village man named Colin drowns, which sets off a series of events. The 13-member cast includes Willy, a friend of Colin and a visitor to the town; Rose, Colin's fiancée; and Mrs. Rafi, Rose's aunt and the gentry woman who runs the town. Another main character is a shopkeeper (a draper) who sees the storm and the boats coming into shore as a real threat. "There's a lot of subtlety here, first in how they deal with the death of Colin and the funeral, and second, how it affects everybody," says Evans. "Because it's Bond, it can't be all sunny and light -- but there is a hopeful ending."
Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St., (212) 279-4200. Previews Apr. 21, opens Apr. 26-May 12. Mon., 7:30 p.m.; Wed.-Fri., 7:30 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. $20.
TROPHY WIFE
Mary Fulham, who was an original member of the groundbreaking performance group, The High-Heeled Women, has gone on to become an award-winning playwright/director, garnering awards at Fringe Festivals both in New York City and Montreal. Her latest piece is a musical adaptation of an Anton Chekov short story Anna on the Neck, with lyrics by Paul Foglino, and music written and performed live by the charismatic pianist/arranger/producer Terry Waldo (Eubie & Me).
Fulham has set her story in 1920s New York society. "I wanted to put it in a time when a woman didn't have too many choices open to her," says Fulham. In both the Chekov and Fulham version of the story, the basic plot is the same: A young girl, whose mother has just died, finds her family on hard times, and so she marries an older man, thinking he will be able to provide for her family. "But, he's 50 years old," Fulham says, "and to her horror, he turns out to be a total tightwad, and she can't get any money from him at all. So it's really the story of how she manages to get some money from him; and as she rises to the heights of society, and takes on the manners of the higher classes, her family falls to the worst of conditions, and she forgets them."
The young girl is Anna Pennington, who marries the much-older Moe Schmertz, a lawyer in the firm of Duke, Duke & Duke. Moe wants to become a partner in the firm, but the senior partner hardly knows he exists. There is a gala party, and since Moe wants to get the attention of the senior Duke, who has an eye for the young ladies, he takes Anna. "And that's the turning point," says Fulham. "She makes a big splash with Mr. Duke, and she realizes she can demand whatever she wants -- and she does."
La Mama, E.T.C., 74-A E. 4th St., (212) 475-7710. Apr. 12-22. Thurs.-Sat., 10 p.m.; Sun., 5:30 p.m.;.Wed., Apr. 18 at 7 p.m. $18.
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