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Dating in LA with No Nipples
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
At the Whitefire Theater
Through November 5
RECOMMENDED:
Lisa David is so likable, and her autobiographical show so ingenuous and inspiring, that you can readily forgive its extended length and lack of polish.
The offbeat title – Dating in LA with no Nipples – pertains to the circumstances David found herself in after she underwent a double mastectomy six months after dumping her unsavory spouse. The latter event took place because, after 10 years of a contented marriage, she came upon her husband – the father of her two year old daughter – cruising kiddie porn sites. She learned soon after that he’d also been two-timing her with transsexual lovers.
Another woman might have felt daunted or depressed, but David (according to her narrative) immediately rallied and set about in search of a new Mr. Right. A week after her surgery she was back in the dating game. To each male prospect she disclosed the details of her predicament: her disturbing discoveries about her marriage, her messy divorce, and her post-operative disfigurement, including her missing nipples, the last feature of her breasts to be reconstructed. (Each gentleman was offered a looksee.) Meanwhile she dealt with lawyers and investigative police officers and social workers while fighting to keep her whiny, persistent ex (“I’ve changed, Lisa”) at bay.
David relays her heavy-duty tale in a plucky, laid-back manner as antithetical to drama queen antics as you can get. And therein lies the story’s – and the storyteller’s – charm. The problems with the piece have to do first with its repetition. By six months post-op, David had had 26 first dates. She doesn’t re-enact all of them, but she does portray quite a few, and they all revolve around her letting the guy know her situation and what she looks like without her clothes.
The piece – which I failed to time but which has two acts and seemed to run about 2 hours – could be re-structured and could probably lose 30-minutes. Under Bryan Rasmussen’s direction, the transitions between scenarios could be crisper, as could the interactions between David as herself and the various men in her life she portrays.
The Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, Wed. 8 p.m., through Nov. 5. (800) 838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com
