VGL 5’4" Top
Clothed in but skimpy undies, patterned socks and a Macintosh laptop, Lucas Brooks, in his new play "VGL 5’4" Top" entertains his audience for some 45 minutes with a humorous soliloquy on the ugliness we all too often wreak when seeking beauty -- or if not beauty, then at least a good lay.
With a snap of his fingers, playwright Brooks takes us from scenario to scenario, chatting about the unkindness of labels, the senselessness of demanding to be accepted for who we are, then placing impossible standards on who and what we are willing to accept into our hearts.
Alas, there is nothing new in this. And though the point is worth making, it is worth making better than is done in this one-note lament. Brooks is clearly intelligent and creative, but the show comes across as a draft for a short comic stint, or perhaps the outline for a series of character portraits that show the real depth of the pain caused by cutting so many out of our hearts.
Instead, we are left with a slightly unsatisfying discourse nearly as shallow as the shallowness it concerns and barely audible at times past the first row. Let’s hope Brooks continues work on this project and polishes it into something more finished and worthy of a second date.
"VGL 5’4" Top" runs through September 16 at San Francisco Fringe Festival, Exit Theater, 156 Eddy Street, between Taylor and Masonon. For information or tickets, call 415-931-1033 or visit the theater’s website.
