In ‘Gluten!’ the Fashion Is in the Hazmat Suits

Those with sensitivities to milk, eggs, shellfish and ground and tree nuts have nothing to fear from “Gluten!,” a new comedy by Stephen Kaliski at 59E59 Theaters. Those with an allergy to labored satire may want to seek other fare.

“Gluten!” takes place a couple of decades in the future, after a time known as the Correction, in which the environment (air, water, food) became so toxic that half the population died. The play opens in a nameless city in which two urban professionals, Copious Fairchild (Jeremiah Maestas) and Hibiscus can der Waal (Shawna Cormier) are viewing a luxury apartment in a building known as the Goldilocks, where everything is just right.

photo: formal dresses

They strip off their hazmat suits and admire the apartment, which the realtor announces as “100 percent particle-free, 100 percent plastic-free, 100 percent Ikea-free, as of this month.”

“And verified by three independent agencies as 85 percent wave-free,” the realtor adds.

Apparently, this is a good thing and just the place for “coagulating” a child. (A reasonable vocabulary is one of the many things lost during the Correction.)

Mr. Kaliski, who directed the show with Amanda Holston for the companyAdjusted Realists, clearly means to lampoon our current fascination with ionized water and alternative foods, our fear of anything unnatural or adulterated with added sugar. That is territory rich and ripe, and the cast is eager, but “Gluten!” hits the same targets over and over, exhaustingly and with little variation. At least 40 minutes pass before any real conflict is introduced, in the form of a collective known as the Natural Causes, who hope to lure Copious and Hibiscus to a pre-Correction community in the suburbs.

Even then, many of the same arguments and jokes are repeated, along with some very tired wordplay and far too much discussion of masturbation. (Sexual intercourse is another Correction casualty.) The play’s best scene is probably the last, in which Mr. Kalinski allows the hysteria to fade and the vocabulary to relax. There’s some actual charm here. But what has come before has been so long and airless and self-congratulatory that it doesn’t provide much relief.

see more: evening dresses online

PLEASE keep all discussions relevant to fashion, textiles, beauty products, or jewelry.

Follow the Fashion Industry Network Rules.

It is always a good time to review fabulous fashion.

 

Hot topics of possible interest:

  Thank you for using the Fashion Industry Network.  Have you helped another member today? Answer questions in the forum. It brings good luck.