Alternately frustrating, annoying and hilarious, Lauren Weedman's "Bust" never fails to hold your attention.
Both the writer and the performer for this solo performance, Weedman mines the humor and drama of her experiences as a Hollywood actress and her work as a volunteer advocate for women incarcerated in the Los Angeles County Jail.
It's a swiftly paced, often-moving piece that plays without intermission in just less than 90 minutes. Despite the shortness of the performance, she draws on experiences gleaned over four years.
She contrasts the harsh realities of life inside the jail with the self-obsessed vapidness of the Hollywood acting world and her misguided foray into writing a confession piece for a glossy fashion magazine.
Weedman never fails to portray herself as a complex, flawed and caring individual.
She can be a self-involved scatterbrain whose impulsive choices often lead to personal disasters. But she also has the intelligence, compassion and tenacity to wrestle small triumphs out of a twisted, indifferent justice system.
She also brings to life the myriad of diverse personalities she comes in contact with -- hardened prison guards and manipulative prisoners, an equally manipulative editor of a glossy fashion magazine and the abusive director holding an audition for a commercial.
She creates each of them as a real person with a distinct and legitimate point of view.
Whether it's the callous prison guard who issues warning such as "Kindness is weakness" and "You will be killed" or the prostitute who knows how to exploit good intentions, each of them is as human as she is funny.
At times, you find yourself losing patience with Weedman's penchant for blurting inappropriate information in high-tension situations and her naivete in revealing a dark secret in a high-circulation national magazine.
It's especially odd because she clearly has the maturity and awareness to recognize her bad choices and mine their comic potential.
Tony Ferrieri's stark, multi-level set of cold steel pipes, metal stairs and fencing, and Allen Hahn's effectively harsh, unforgiving lighting design, contribute to the show's reality, tension and success.
A skilled actress, Weedman can morph through multiple identities in rapid succession with simple adjustments of voice, posture and expression.
Her even greater strength is as a very smart storyteller who is both human and humorous.
Additional Information:
'Bust'
Presented by: City Theatre
When: Through June 29, with performances at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 5:30 and 9 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and 1 p.m. June 4 and 11
Admission: $20-$46; $15 in advance or $10 beginning two hours before any performance for students or age 25 and younger; $15 beginning two hours before any performance for age 60 or older
Where: Lester Hamburg Studio Theatre at City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., South Side
Details: 412-431-2489
