RUSTY AND RICO, Colored Lights Productions, at Cafe Voltaire. Rusty is a Central Park prostitute, Rico a mayoral wannabe. After professing to love each other, you’d think they’d repair to the nearest hotel instead of lingering to dance under the stars, play childish pranks on alfresco diners, and revel in the specialness of their relationship. But they don’t, and that turns out to be a big mistake. Recalling her girlhood ambitions, Rusty is now ready to play a more aggressive and public role in Rico’s life. As a sign of her new social consciousness, she casts off the gun Rico gave her–one of a matched pair, like their rings and watches–and demands that he do the same. Rico, distressed, declares his piece to be central to his manhood and to their romance, oblivious to Rusty’s hints that there’s only one way for romantics packing firearms to go.
