Opening lines

The title of playwright David Mamet’s 1974 exploration of sexual manners and mores is a bit intimidating, if not off-putting. Sexual Perversity in Chicago is about sex—the awkward dancing toward and staying away from physical encounters and emotional relationships. It’s also about Chicago. Native son Mamet sets his four characters in 33 short scenes throughout downtown Chicago in the mid-1970s.

But perversity? That’s a matter of contention. In fact, even Mamet acknowledged the word was a hot button. When asked why audiences flocked to his play, he guessed, “I think they confuse the meaning of perversity with perversion.”

Maybe it’s the passage of time, but, though the language is raw and the sexual portrayals explicit, the content is hardly shocking. It’s more like a little titillating. Considering that Sexual Perversity debuted during the disco era, before AIDS took its toll on sexual freedom, it’s not surprising that some of the attitudes expressed by the characters are dated. But it’s also depressing just how much of it is still a reflection of current mating rituals.

The four characters represent both genders as well as two major outlooks on life. The two males, Bernie (Jimmy McCammon) and Danny (Ryan Kerbow), are work buddies as well as cruising buddies, with boorish Bernie relating boastful tales and pickup lines to his less experienced friend. The two females are their counterparts: the burnt and jaded Joan (Sara Becker) guiding optimistic Deborah (Rachel Evans) through and away from male advances.

Sexual Perversity was last produced in Sacramento 17 years ago by Modern Theater Ensemble’s director, Evan Nossoff, who folded his theater troupe more than 15 years ago. Nossoff has re-emerged with a new company, SacActors.com, comprised of his acting students.

The cast rotates between three ensembles. The opening-night cast of McCammon, Kerbow, Becker and Evans gave thoroughly likeable performances. The four are roughly the same ages as the characters they play, and they managed to add pathos and vulnerability to the scenes, while making the audience care about four singles awash in a sea of sexual misadventures and emotional near misses. It’s an impressive debut for a new theater company.