Joshua Weinstein’s sharp, often very funny play uses sometimes penetrating, sometimes tedious spoofs to comment on the current rhetoric of the military and the sexuality and spectacle of violence in America. If these themes sound a little played out, it’s because they are, and sometimes the show relies far too heavily on satire that’s been done before. However, much of the language truly sparkles, and the play’s comic sensibility is impressive and in perfect balance with the chilling moments that result from the appropriation of cartoon violence, exploration of the play between reality and fantasy of war games and mediation on the media coverage of war. Madeline Long carries the production almost completely as a profane, Xanax-popping yet profoundly naïve 12-year-old girl recruited by the army for her video game prowess, and the show is truly worth watching if only to witness her comic and dramatic range. (Monica Westin)
At The Side Project, 1439 W. Jarvis, (773)474-9070. This production is now closed.
