'Vampire' needs a bit more bite

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Drama Critic

•	'Vampire Lesbians of Sodom' 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday; The ARTS at Marks Garage 8 p.m. Monday; Hula's Bar & Lei Stand $10 536-8047

This 20-year-old play had a significant off-Broadway run and has become a cult classic for drag queens and the people who love them. It's also a screamer — brash, crass, and over-the-top.

Its three scenes begin in ancient Sodom, where an adult male actor (originally played by playwright Busch) takes the part of a young virgin girl about to be ritually sacrificed to a blood-sucking Succubus monster.

She pleads with one of the guards to save her: "Rape me and I'll no longer be a virgin fit for sacrifice. Break my hymen! Break my hymen!"

The subtlety doesn't get any deeper than this.

She fails in her bid for escape, but doesn't die and becomes a vampire in her own right. The Succubus and the Virgin meet twice more, first in 1920s Hollywood as rival leading ladies, lastly in Las Vegas — still pursuing stardom and virginal blood — and cement a symbiotic relationship destined for immortality.

The final effect is strangely positive and hopeful.

But having chosen this vehicle, this SmashBox production, directed by Elizabeth Wolfe and presented by Lizard Loft, can't get a handle on the stick shift that would turn it into a truly wild ride.

It's not clear that the individual actors know where the edges of their roles are or that they have the courage and skill to push past them. There's a curious holding back in the performance, something like teenagers trying to act out but lacking the personal experience to know what that means, all the while expecting Mom and Dad to return home any minute.

Beth Berry is on the right track as a loud and self-absorbed Succubus, but plays the role in one-note capital letters that don't fully sustain it, even through the short 60-minute production. Kris DeRego as the Virgin has a tougher task.

Busch originally layered the part for himself, playing it as an aging actress who, in a g-string and high heels, was attempting to portray a 14-year-old. DeRego does it in a lacy Victorian dress and blond wig, with the attitude of a surly youngster playing dress-up.

The Succubus and the Virgin spit lines at each other over two millennia, but don't really connect. Ross Harrison cross-dresses effectively as a Hollywood gossip columnist, but most in the cast seem new to the stage.

But the venue and the opportunity to step off the beaten path should sustain the show through its run. The open playing space at Marks Garage is set up with tiny cocktail tables, and candlelight. Carry-in drinks appear to be welcomed. The show ends its run on Monday with one night at Hula's Bar & Lei Stand.