Stage Reviews

Insides Out! Katie Rubin returns with a limited engagement of her one-woman show, which had a successful run at the Sacramento Theatre Company last spring. She plays a spunky survivor of multiple facets to her personality and multiple monkeys on her back. Her many addictions include alcohol, food, sex, drugs and destructive lifestyles. Frankly, there is little new in this oft-told saga of a life out of control, but what makes the show so unique is the storytelling. Rubin narrates her life through the voices of conflicting internal characters who pull her in many directions, and the actress embodies each of these inner spirits while maintaining a linear story. Geery Theater; 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. September 16 and 23, 6:30 p.m. September 29, and 6 p.m. September 30; $16.50-$19.50. 2131 L Street, (916) 451-4152, www.sacactors.com. P.R.

Pump Boys and Dinettes This amiable revue features four car mechanics (singing about catchin’ catfish) and two sexy waitresses from the cafe next-door (pourin’ coffee, bakin’ pies and hopin’ for good tips). There’s a lot of flirtation, but there are only flickers of a story. The cast (especially Andrea Eve Thorpe and Michelle Hillen) put zip into several of the up-tempo songs, which are a feel-good crazy quilt of borrowed country, rockabilly, blues and gospel styles. It’s very soft-focus and sentimental: The mechanics never get greasy, and disappointments are soon forgotten. But the point here is escapist fun, which is what the show delivers, in a friendly, small-scale, hokey way. Studio Theatre, 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, $22-$24. 1028 R Street, (916) 446-2668, www.thestudiotheatre.net. Through October 8. J.H.

The Vagina Monologues SacActors.Com revives its long-running show. Reviewing it in 2005, Patti Roberts wrote, “This play with the gutsy title takes a taboo subject matter—a basic body part of every woman—and makes it acceptable to talk about. For this production by SacActors.com, three actresses trade off monologues in front of deep-red velvet panels. The performances examine not only the word, but also the body part, and all the shame, power, fear and beauty that vagina owners carry with them. The play is great fodder for after-show conversations.” Geery Theater, 8:30 p.m. Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday, $14.50-$17.50. 2130 L Street, (916) 451-4152. Through November 12. P.R.