Romance

We’ve all seen courtroom dramas that are tense, serious and driven by facts and morality. But a courtroom farce? With the unlikely title Romance, featuring an all-male cast?

That’s the current Lambda Players show, and it was written by David Mamet—noted for his rapid-fire, toughly masculine, expletive-laced dialogue (Glengarry Glen Ross, et al.).

In Romance, the playwright mocks everyone and everything in sight, including himself.

The insults fly, at times recalling a Shakespearean battle-of-the-sexes comedy like Taming of the Shrew, as the marauding playwright tackles religion (Christians, Jews, Muslims), relationships and sexuality (straight versus gay), lawyers (“Why did you go to law school if you didn’t want to lie?”), etc., throwing caution to the wind.

The onstage results can be quite funny, in a forbidden sort of way. This charmingly scruffy, low-budget show serves up its provocative, politically-incorrect humor in a good-hearted manner. The production gains momentum as it proceeds, and finishes strong. We laughed loud and often. You probably will, too.