2008 Woodie Awards
Sexual Perversity Makes Its Way to the Fred
Sophia Koshmer
Issue date: 10/7/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Sexual Perversity in Chicago was in a single word, shocking. For it to be the first play one has seen since high school it is definitely a reminder that we are definitely in college. The very straight-forward piece is by David Mamet and is simply a look into the way that four diverse characters view relationships, which surprisingly turns out to be a not so simple task.
The work centers around four characters, the very open-book and seemingly careless Bernie Litko (played by Senior Theatre major, Patrick Clark), the cynic, Joan Webber (played by Junior Theatre major Kelly Crooks), the hopeful Deborah Soloman (played by Freshman, Ashley Gilson), and the innocent Danny Shapiro (played by Sophomore Theatre major, Mike Nardelli).
The story opens with Bernie explaining, quite explicitly, some sexual conquest to his best friend Danny, which seems to be all he enjoys talking about.
Danny, when we are introduced to him, seems to play a smaller role and begins as a fairly innocent character. All he seems to know of relationships are the things he hears from the more experienced Bernie, though it is hard to tell what the truth of what Bernie says at all is. Joan is introduced as the cynical roommate of Danny's future love, Deborah.
The two could not be more conflicting personalities. Where Joan is skeptical, Deborah is more the believer in possibilities. When Danny and Deborah begin to date, everything is happy and the world is full of endless possibility as they begin to pull away from there more love-repellant friends and gravitate towards the hope that their new love may hold. But this is not to last, as is the reality of relationships and
Mamet does not spare us the reality in the least. The couple soon begins to see that love is not all romance. Filled with very colorful language as fitting of each of their characters, and some mature content in its revealing look into the sexual aspects of Deborah and Danny's relationship, the production as a whole was very shocking and realistic yet an also very interesting look into the human condition.
The work centers around four characters, the very open-book and seemingly careless Bernie Litko (played by Senior Theatre major, Patrick Clark), the cynic, Joan Webber (played by Junior Theatre major Kelly Crooks), the hopeful Deborah Soloman (played by Freshman, Ashley Gilson), and the innocent Danny Shapiro (played by Sophomore Theatre major, Mike Nardelli).
The story opens with Bernie explaining, quite explicitly, some sexual conquest to his best friend Danny, which seems to be all he enjoys talking about.
Danny, when we are introduced to him, seems to play a smaller role and begins as a fairly innocent character. All he seems to know of relationships are the things he hears from the more experienced Bernie, though it is hard to tell what the truth of what Bernie says at all is. Joan is introduced as the cynical roommate of Danny's future love, Deborah.
The two could not be more conflicting personalities. Where Joan is skeptical, Deborah is more the believer in possibilities. When Danny and Deborah begin to date, everything is happy and the world is full of endless possibility as they begin to pull away from there more love-repellant friends and gravitate towards the hope that their new love may hold. But this is not to last, as is the reality of relationships and
Mamet does not spare us the reality in the least. The couple soon begins to see that love is not all romance. Filled with very colorful language as fitting of each of their characters, and some mature content in its revealing look into the sexual aspects of Deborah and Danny's relationship, the production as a whole was very shocking and realistic yet an also very interesting look into the human condition.