I love food. I’m just not in love with it. I understand the ideology of local sourcing, the ethics of organics, the romance of global influences, the beauty of a good gut, the sacrament of artful presentation. But none of that fascinates me the way the chocolate fudge layer cake at the Cheesecake Factory does. I can’t bring myself to approach eating with the learned earnestness of the true believer.
In place of authentic coherence, the ensemble and director Dan Kerr-Hobert posit charm. Which works well enough now and then. An interlude where cast member Kyra Sims invites an audience volunteer to share “lunches” with her, swapping desserts like kids in a school cafeteria, works largely because Sims is so consummately gracious. (She proves later on in the show that she also possesses a gorgeous singing voice.) Likewise, Oliver Camacho creates his own weather in various passages that are not only self-revelatory but emotionally generous; he comes closer than anyone to transforming his list of hurts into the coordinates of a full-out human being, worthy of our attention and empathy.
Through 9/2: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM The Neo-Futurists, Metropolitan Brewery 3031 N. Rockwell 773-878-4557neofuturists.org $25, pay what you can on Thursdays
