Since the biblical story of Adam and Eve, differences between men and women have been personified in many plays, as South Floridians have seen in recent years with the numerous performances of playwright Rob Becker’s “Defending the Caveman” for many decades.
South African playwrights Emma Pierson and Vanessa Frost recreated the Becker story with a distinct female interpretation in Actors Playhouse’s current production of “Defending the Cavewoman”, starring actress Lindsey Corey as Evelyn (and the original Eve) in a fast paced 90 minute one act comedy that pokes fun at how men and women are completely different from each other.
Corey plays Eve, Evelyn and at least 13 other characters in recalling how Evelyn and her husband Chris endured, fought and laughed through ten years of marriage and family.
Before an analysis of how Evelyn and Chris go through an eventful, typical day, scene one begins with Evelyn in an original, cavewoman-like leopard dress, phoning God (whose voice is played by Kareema Khouri) (and placed on hold while angels search for God) and so begins a dialogue that Evelyn has with God, Chris and other male voices (played by Carlos Alayeto) and other voices (performed by Laura Turnbull).
Actress Lindsey Corey talks about the differences between men and women in “Defending The Cavewoman”, running now through August 6 at Actors Playhouse in Coral Gables.
Eve, Evelyn and so many of the characters played by Corey express the hopes, fears, disappointment and hopefulness of how men and women connect and disconnect in humorous anecdotes.
Corey has the instincts of stand-up comedy, commanding on stage whether she is lamenting sitting on a chair, prancing on stage, running barefoot offstage into the audience, and walking in and out of her shoes to make the audience feel like they have seen numerous funny people on stage who look and resemble themselves.
The comic scenes and jokes move so quickly that one becomes mesmerized that Corey has played 15 characters by herself in 90 minutes. The comedy is played on Evelyn’s observations of being involved as the female gatherer to Chris being the hunter, evolving from the days of Eve to contemporary times.
Chris is the grunter, snorer who never asks for directions when he drives a car, doesn’t know how to cook, sew, or where grocery food items are stored in the refrigerator. Other scenes have Chris deeply engaged into electronics, so much so that he forgets about loading up groceries into a cart. Although Evelyn is more of the even- keeled of the married duo, Corey makes Evelyn hilarious with her remarks about her interfering mother-in-law Hillary.
Actress Lindsey Corey sings in “Defending The Cavewoman”, running now through August 6 at Actors Playhouse in Coral Gables.
