How well you enjoy David Grimm's Measure For Pleasure at Woolly Mammoth will largely be dictated by your tolerance of puns.

Because boy, are there a lot of them here, mostly of the tawdry variety. In a way it's not surprising; the work is a satire of Restoration comedy, which relied heavily on sexually-explicit double entendre to get its point (and laughs) across. Director Howard Shalwitz has the corsets and the high-society settings in place as well. But the work still hails from a modern sensibility, and never is this more apparent than when the show's climactic scene ends up in a S&M bordello, dildos and leather everywhere.

The contrast, though, takes away from Measure's impact. Part of what makes Restoration comedy still amusing is that you know you're experiencing something written in the 17th century, and there's an inherent taboo quality there, along with a general amusement of seeing sexual foibles put to the page so many years ago. With the knowledge that Measure For Pleasure is a recent work, and having it enforced with 20th century touches, something is lost there. Explicitly vulgar language isn't exactly a rare commodity these days; here, we've just got some jarring rhyming and those groan-worthy puns coming in at a steady, persistent pace.

It's a good thing Measure's cast still keeps the proceedings fun most of the time (at two hours and 40 minutes, the "most" in the sentence is key...this play needs an editor). Joel Reuben Ganz as Will Blunt, a lazy and emo servant, has an affable personality and often directly addresses the audience throughout the night - he's a comfortable guide for the evening, even if his stage presence feels a lot more Renaissance Faire-improv than his costars. Most of them are unabashedly and delightedly over-the-top, from the consciously conceited Jennifer Mendenhall as Lady Vanity Lustforth (one hiccuping scene is particularly hilarious) or Kimberly Gilbert, who puts a strong but genial stamp on the ingenue role. Andrew Honeycutt is almost deceptively feminine as a cross-dressing maid. Michael Gabriel Goodfriend as Captain Dick Dashwood, the rake character, is every bit the leering playboy, though it totally sounds like he's doing an impression of Doctor Orpheus from The Venture Bros., vocally.

If you can get past all the puns, Measure makes for a diverting, if not fleeting, few hours, even if it's jumping the shark when it gets to the orgies and vibrators.

The show runs through June 29; tickets are $48 to $57 and available By Missy Frederick in Arts and Events | Link | Comments (2) | Recommend this! (3) |

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