POSING NUDE
Referred to in the program as the “monologist,” she never comments directly on the action: a mousy secretary named Amy finds herself temping in the photo department of a magazine suspiciously like Playboy. Instead, the monologist tells a first-person story about a young woman raised in Kansas who loses her virginity in a silver Pontiac Le Mans, poses nude (once) for a photography student, and has at least one intense love affair with a woman. What this has to do with Amy’s adventures in men’s magazineland is never entirely clear–until the end, when, in one of the shows more predictable moments, we find out which of the many characters in the story the monologist represents.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Happily, Regis-Civetta proves much more adept at casting and directing his actors. There is not a weak link in this marvelous ensemble. That may explain why, despite the worst instincts of playwright and director, Posing Nude is still more or less a success. Darlene Hunt as sharp-tongued Missy and Andrea Beutner as shy temp Amy are great together: much of Ramos’s quiet humor succeeds because these two play so well off each other. Portraying the various models and wannabes who run in and out of the office, Heather Brooks and Tamara Braun adeptly avoid all the easy bimbo cliches.
