Camille Flounces, but Often Falls Flat

The first scene gallops chaotically through the characters' introductions and back-stories at such a hectic pace that the only people laughing are usually the characters themselves. Many of the jokes throughout the show receive only a ripple of laughter, and the actors rely on punching up lines with sexual or comic intonations even when the dynamic of the moment doesn't support that tone. The biggest laugh of the night didn't come from one of Marguerite's many diva-licious one-liners, which were clearly intended to inspire more mirth than they did, but rather when Armand accidentally addresses Prudence as Frank, provoking Prudence's deep, aggressive, unmistakably manly, "Say what?!" response.

The cleverest performance belonged to John Kevin Boggs as Baron de Varville, a man who snarls and sashays with raunchy decadence. This is a truly perverse character, and Boggs oozes debauchery and lust so convincingly that it makes the rest of the cast's titillating lines seem adolescent. Jay Hardee struggles a bit in the role of Marguerite, less engaging in the early scenes when she is still wild and single, yet powerfully evoking a heartbroken woman in moments of distress.

But it is Frank Britton, as eternally verklempt Prudence Duvernoy, who most skillfully embodies the spirit of drag: complete commitment to a fully realized persona. In other words, he owned it. The other actors know they're supposed to be wacky and off-color, so they make crude gestures and pull their faces, yet it sometimes is done in an almost arbitrary way. (John C. Bailey's choice to play Nanine the maid as alternately glowering and orgiastic is inexplicable.) Comedy, and good drag, is more than that.

Camille runs through Sept. 27; tickets are available online.