Original Article: LA Weekly by Neal Weaver
The title suggests a saucy sex comedy, but Paula Mitchell Manning’s play is quite something else.
Miss Ella (Barbara Mealy), a voodoo wise woman, tells us about Morty – a.k.a. Morte. He’s a jealous lover, and a seductive one. Morty/Morte (Dean Cleverdon) is Death, and the drama is a battle against death – emotional, spiritual, physical, Morty’s chosen victim is a suicidal Baby Hunter (LaDon Drummond), the third generation of a clan of women all sexually molested in childhood. Grandma Hattie (Joyce Matlock) learned to use sex for barter and to control men. Baby’s Mother, RayLee (Holly Jenkins) became the great bitch/whore of Biloxi. Young Baby (Jessica Wright) was seduced by her sensitive, ineffectual father (Jon Malmed), and more brutally and systematically molested by her stepfather (John Del Regno). A subplot involves a famous black singer-songwriter (composer-singer-actor John Lathan), who’s also dogged by molestation and death. This is not a play for the faint hearted. There are violent deaths, nudity, and the sexual scenes are touchy and graphic, but they’re played with unflinching honesty that defies prudence. Manning’s tough, eloquent and moving play speaks with a compassionate voice, and she’s found a director (Phil Ramuno) and cast who share her courage as well as her vision.