Because
it won prizes at Canadian fringe festivals, I expected Clean Irene and Dirty Maxineto
be an edgy example of experimental, counterculture theater. In fact, it’s a
cute, family entertainment. Anna Chatterton and Evalyn Parry, the talented two
young women who created and play it, are likable and frisky. Except for their
occasional, seemingly unmotivated exclamations of “Fuck me,” they are unlikely
to startle or upset anyone in the audience old enough to be toilet-trained.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย With letters of the alphabet strung
on a clothesline behind them (a common improvisational theater device), the two
women start with Arty Marty and go on to Busy Lizzy, Clean Irene, Dirty Maxine,
Efficient Millicent, etc., telling about various female types. They mug,
pantomime, sing, dance, and carry on, but mostly recite childlike rhymes:
“Firefighter Myra Miter / Shouldn’t have lit her lighter / With Gassy Lassie in
her bed / So now both of them are dead.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Well, maybe some parents wouldn’t
want their kids to hear fart jokes in the theater. A promotional note indicates
that this is entertainment for adults.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย There’s not much bite or insight in
their examples of familiar behavior, but they gleefully poke fun at Jittery
Hillary’s marital infidelity, Herbal Mabel’s faith in vegetal healing, Kosher
Raisel’s religion-based follies, and the transient values of Trendy Wendy. One
popular caprice gets ribbed near the end: “Yoga Lola was a vulture / Always
stealing from other cultures.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย They don’t have a character for
every letter: Raisel, for instance, has a daughter named “Little LMNO.” But
their intermission-less hour of good-natured funning has enough range and
geniality to pass quickly.
Clean
Irene & Dirty Maxine,written and performedby
Anna Chatterton and Evalyn Parry, plays at Downstairs Cabaret Theatre Two, 172
West Main Street, from Thursday, October 2, to Sunday, October 12, on Thursdays
at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sundays
at 5 p.m. Tix: $9-$18. 325-4370, www.downstairscabaret.com.
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2003.
