Written by Pam Gems

Directed by Aline Brosh

In the Leverett House Old

Library

Through Saturday

DUSA, FISH, Stas, and Vi focuses on four women struggling against a male-dominated society. All at low points in their lives, they band together for mutual support in Fish's apartment, a refuge from the storm. And the source of the storm in this play is always men.

Fish's man dumps her, calls back, then dumps her again. A man steals Dusa's children. Men prostitute Stas, rape Vi, and generally cause depression, despair and death.

While the utter villainy of men in Dusa, Fish, Stas, and Vi is just a tad unrealistic, British playwright Pam Gems seems to be taking male depravity to an extreme in order to test out the weaknesses and strengths of her four female characters. This exaggerration causes us to question their actions. If men are so bad, why do these women permit men to treat them this way? Why do they keep coming back for more?

At the opening of the play, it seems that no worthwhile interaction can occur between this hostile group of women; they bicker and nag incessantly. Yet over the course of this short two-act drama, these four outcasts who face society's scorn try to show each other how to beat the male-dominated system.

The four represent the range of prototypical feminine roles--mother, prostitute, feminist activist, and manic depressive. Consequently, the actresses make their most striking impressions as individuals in an ensemble rather than as an undifferentiated group.

Vi, played with subtle wit by Adriane Stewart, holds tight to her sense of humor even though she's just had an abortion and, the dialogue implies, been raped. She all but steals the show as she mopes around the stage interjecting sarcastic comments under her breath. Lyra O. Barrera's Stas--a whore bent on hustling her way to a Hawaiian medical school--prances around in her underwear reading Scientific American out loud and advising Dusa and Fish to toughen up.

Dusa (Mira Sorvino) is a mod mom who eulogizes the virtues of motherhood. By playing Dusa with false sincerity, Sorvino does not make her a credible character. The fourth woman, Fish (Heather Gunn), is a journalist-activist-feminist and the most ideologically optimistic woman of the bunch--often hopeful to the point of idiocy. Gunn's overstudied performance does little to help us sympathize with her.

All in all, though, Pam Gems' astute, fast-paced dialogue, the music and a couple of strong performances save Dusa, Fish from its man-hating, disspiriting premise. It's worth seeing if you are looking for something provocative to stir up your stereotypes. But beware--it could ruin your relaxing, romantic evening.