Neurotic superheroes prove their worth

Times are tough for everyone, including superheroes. That's the premise behind the Bloomington Playwrights Project's most recent play, "Meanwhile, Back at the Super Lair." \nThe comedy, written by Indiana native Greg Kalleres, is part of the Bloomington Playwrights Project's late night Dark Alley Series. Performances are 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in the Lora Shiner Studio at 314 S. Washington St.\nThe Human Fly (Mike Price) is a neurotic superhero who spends more time in therapy than he does fighting crime. Along with his girlfriend Leopard Woman (Christine Perrotta), Rhino Man (Cory Aiello) and Silver Streak (Daniel J. Petrie), he protects his metropolis, Sate City. \nHaving already disposed of the city's greatest threat, the group spends most of their days trading barbs and obsessing over their lives in the comfort of the Super Lair, which is just an apartment that the group is subletting from the Silver Streak's older sister.\nThe group's easy lifestyle is shaken up when the mayor dispatches an efficiency expert, Darrell (I. James Torry), to assess the group's usefulness to the city and determine if the heroes are worth their salaries. The added pressure of having their every move watched just heightens the neuroses of each superhero, and each must determine their value to the city and their contribution to life. \nBut, when a new villain threatens the city, each hero's life changes in unexpected ways. \nLike most of the BPP's adult-themed Dark Alley Series, Kalleres' script is racy, edgy, absurd and hilarious. It is easy to see why Kalleres, who is a graduate of Tisch's Dramatic Writing Program at New York University, has garnered praise from both the Kennedy Center and the Julliard School. Though the action centers around four people who live their lives as superheroes, Kalleres gives each character enough flaws that the audience can still connect with them.\nThe Dark Alley Series is "Guerilla Theater" -- minimal stage sets, minimal lighting and very limited budget. Despite the limitations, Director Kris Lee presents an excellent product. Lee and assistant Director Xanthia Celeste use the same set-piece for multiple venues in both of the play's two acts, and the actors' costumes look as if they were salvaged from Goodwill.\nThe lack of visual elements forces the actors to engage the audience and to hold their attention, and they deliver.\nThe strong cast is led by Price as the Human Fly. His performance of a man fumbling through an identity crisis is excellent. If he were playing a normal character, his over-the-top performance would have been too much. Since he is playing a character that spends much of his life in a superhero costume, the performance fits the character well. \nMuch of the comedy comes from Price, and he is so funny that the actors on stage burst out laughing at his antics.\nPerrotta, Petrie and Aiello all do fine jobs of making the absurd superheroes as human as possible, and showing the conflicts that each person behind the costume must go through.\nTorry is also good as the only character who lives in the real world and tries to reconnect the superheroes to the world that they are pledged to protect.\n"Back at the Super Lair" is a very funny play that features a strong cast and will entertain all comedy fans, not just comic book lovers. \n-- Contact staff writer Matt McNabb at mmcnabb@indiana.edu