'Chicks With Dicks' gone wild

As a college student learning to live and work as a theatrical artist, I am always weary of play reviews. Because, after all, who decides what is good theater? \nDespite my appreciation for tried-and-true classic theater from the likes of Sophocles and Shakespeare, this reviewer left "Chicks With Dicks," written by Chicago playwright Trista Baldwin and directed by Bloomington Playwrights Project's Artistic Director Richard Perez, speechless.\nI flipped my notebook to the last page as the audience exited and wrote the first words that came to my mind. "Fucking wild," I penned.\n"Chicks With Dicks" took the audience on the most maddening ride my eyes had ever witnessed. The play, set in the Hoosier heartland town of Bedford, offered the audience a bosom of biker babes, radioactive feminine sexuality and a glimpse of American life akin to a B-parody kung fu fighters crossed with a pissed-off chick flick.\nThe show began before the curtain call as a foursome chorus of leather and lace clad Go-Go Girls, played by Echaka Agba, Justina Batchelor, Annie Kerkian and Amanda Smith, seduced the audience from the moment they entered the BPP's new space, 107 W. Ninth St.\nAll four women tantalized the audience members' hormones by seductively parading throughout the crowd, offering a few men and women lap dances and stripteases before the show started. \nRuth Hartke, who portrayed local beauty pageant runner-up Vespa D'Amour, ignited the dramatic buffoonery after she joined the Satan Cherries to get back at her boyfriend, played by Alexander Gulck, for breaking up with her. Gulk acted as the "everyman" during the play and got pinched, punched, kicked, bitten and tossed by the predominantly female cast.\nAnneliese Toft, who portrayed Satan's leader Varla, provided the audience with a bad-ass woman vibe. She complimented the sexually boisterous Dixie, portrayed by Lindsey Charles, who is the leader of Satan's rival biker gang BadSnakes. The other characters seemed to feed off of Toft and Charles' heightened energy, and the scenes in which the different gangs squared off were superb.\nDJ McCartney, who portrayed the shoe-licking Joe, offered the audience a look into the fetish-filled world of domination and subordination. His character contributed to the "women power" ruggedness of the show through his submission to his female handlers.\nThe remaining cast included Amy Wendling, who portrayed the French-accented and eloquent Chantalle, Alex Young, who portrayed the sensual yet biker-wannabe Cindi, and Joanne Dubach, who portrayed the misguided and often dancing Kitten. \nPerez, whose talented direction seeped through the actors by their comfort and camaraderie on stage, offered the audience a myriad of spectacular drama, including a beautifully choreographed pudding fight between Cindi and Vespa in "Matrix"-style slow motion toward the end of the show. The actors seemed to channel their vocal inflection and rising moods depending on audience response, although Perez's ability to rein in the actors' collective enthusiasm while offering them free reign to throw caution to the wind was reflected throughout the performance.\nDiscussion among audience members after the play seemed to revolve around the rubber dildo that grew from Vespa's head during the show and her double rubber dildo holster she wore by the end of "Chicks With Dicks." Ash Williams' soundscape also seemed to rock the audience and the stage props, which included makeshift motorcycles and a wooden-car cutout.\n"Chicks With Dicks" rocked this reviewer's world and turned him on his head for at least a couple hours. The BPP again pushed the boundaries of local theater and, most importantly, Perez's talented crew provided the audience with a worthwhile night of entertainment.