About Me
What is Nipples To The Wind?
It is an uproariously funny new play! Through a series of monologues we meet various women, from a narcissistic suicide hotline operator to an overzealous Little League mom (who lands herself in jail), to three sisters at confession each telling their own version of the same event. You will meet fourteen VERY memorable characters, all portrayed by actors Janye Anderson and Paula Coco. Nipples To The Wind is directed by Reno Venturi.
Visit www.NipplesToTheWind.com for more information and to purchase tickets!
Publicity:
Chin Up, Chest Out
By Elena Gray-Blanc,
Santa Barbara Independent
April 12, 2007
Nipples to the Wind. At the Lobero Theatre, Saturday, April 7; shows through April 15.
It is not until the very end of Nipples to the Wind, when a slideshow wrapping up the fates of characters appears above the stage, that Paula Coco and Janye Anderson's ability to suspend disbelief hits home. Using minimal sets, with a maximum of two actresses onstage at a time, the 14 speaking characters and some who are only implied come to life to such an extent that one is truly curious about the end of their stories. With the comic presence and assurance that both Coco and Anderson projected, even the negative space around their monologues became real, engaging, and hilarious.
Perhaps it would be too much to ascribe a deeper meaning to the characters portrayed. However, it's not every day a writer conceptualizes so many true, flawed, and funny human beings, people who retain their dignity even as their foibles are exposed. Playwrights of more serious intent have tried and failed at this, and it is greatly to Coco's credit that she has achieved it without triteness or sentimentality. Almost every stereotype of modern society -- Little League moms, artistes, and Justin Timberlake fans included -- are skewered so neatly that the incisions can barely be seen. The show ignores the politically correct without ever crossing the line into unnecessary crudeness.
From the middle-aged woman who likens her sister, a collector of Precious Moments figurines, to "Laura from The Glass Menagerie -- only with more expensive crap," to the mother who loves taking advantage of her son's employee discount (he works at the 99¢ Only Stores), to the Hispanic mamita who mans the suicide hotline with such advice as, "I ain't never had a crisis in my life I couldn't solve with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup," there are few elements of American culture left untouched. Even so, the beauty of satire is that no one willingly identifies enough to be offended; and simultaneously, we see enough of ourselves to be glad of the anonymity of a darkened theater. Nipples to the Wind, even without any employee discount, is an evening of entertainment well worth the price of admission.
-------------------------------------------------
Tulsa World
Review: What a bunch of characters
by: KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
6/2/2007
This two-woman show is zany and way too much fun
They don't spar with swords on the open seas or sling webs from the wrists around the greater metropolitan area.
But the women of "Nipples to the Wind" just might have more, um, gumption than any super hero you're likely to see on the summer blockbuster big screen.
Plus they go through a lot more costume changes to play some of the nuttiest characters to take the Tulsa Performing Arts Center stage in recent years.
If you weren't a fan of "Nipples" already, you will be after watching Paula Coco and Janye Anderson in this hysterical two-woman show at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.
Was that crass? It doesn't compare with the sight of 60-something-year-old Mavis Billings hoarded up at home in her Christmas get-up as she types the Billings family annual newsletter. Mavis breaks long enough to snag a stray snack on the floor between nicotine drags before she has to pull the long hair attached to it from her mouth.
Neither does it compare to Brenda, a Southern belle interrupting her early cocktail hour to chat with her neighbor on the porch and swat some flies. I won't fill you in on the details.
That was only in the first half of this uproarious comedy that left everyone attending Thursday night's opening in fits of laughter by intermission.
Of course, the send-off into half-time -- two grannies getting old school while chaperoning a seventh-grade dance -- had a lot to do with that.
Bring a hankie or some Kleenex -- you'll want something to wipe away the tears from laughing so hard.
Playwright Coco penned 11 monologues and self-contained scenes for "Nipples to the Wind," named for an old Southern expression meant to encourage and empower a woman when times get tough.
So, no -- it's not that kind of show (and there's no nudity), although Coco takes every opportunity to raise some brows. "Take some 'Nipples' home," reads the display marketing play merchandise in the theater lobby. That got some giggles and, no doubt, some T-shirt and CD sales.
But Coco's gift for sparkling dialogue clings to her eccentrics -- from Flora, the suicide hotline counselor who puts her callers on hold, to Susie, the little league mom in jail for assault and battery.
Coco is an expert at interpreting her own work in performance, but Anderson hits you in the gut every time with her comic timing and little mannerisms that truly help her morph into a completely new character each time she steps on stage.
The show's high point is its comedy, without a doubt, but this marvelous staging is not without poignancy. Substitute teacher Ms. Casey's health lesson is at once hilarious and a little heartbreaking. A particularly well-scripted episode with three sisters at confession clocks in at around 20 minutes, but is so revealing about these women and their complicated family relationships that it's a wonder.
Songwriter and singer Kacey Jones, who opened the show Thursday on a warm note, provides an array of scene-inspired tunes with clever, punchy lyrics played between the simple set changes with her clever lyrics.
With boldness and a willingness to throw themselves into characters often more zany than any making it out of the cinema these days, Coco and Anderson make "Nipples to the Wind" as interesting for seasoned playgoers as it is outrageous and inviting.
The play contains some mature language and themes.
I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.1
