Chicago’s famed Second City comedy troupe is visiting the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company again, this time bringing a show that pokes fun at everything from Washington traffic to wealthy D.C. families, from Sarah Palin to Nancy Pelosi to Hillary Clinton — for Second City, after all, practices equal opportunity satire. The emphasis in this show, “A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics,” is on women, both in terms of the troupe and in terms of the material. Four women (Brooke Breit, Lili-Anne Brown, Lori McClain and Rebecca Sohn) and one man (Joey Bland) present the “Girl’s Guide.” All are extremely talented and work smoothly as an ensemble, directed by Bill Bungeroth.
One of the group’s funniest pieces, “We’re Senators’ Wives,” presents a group of four spouses of philandering politicians. In this sketch, the spurned women are hilarious as they offer up different reactions to their embarrassing situation. The piece also turns out to be a brilliant vehicle for Bland, who does an energetic ballet as the women continue to sing of their plight.
Some of the sketches are short, some extended, some lightning fast. Much of the material is sung, and dance accompanies many of the pieces. Nothing is static for long. The only addition to Klyph Stanford’s empty stage are black chairs, carried on and off between scenes. In between sketches, there is a variety of music: rock or Vivaldi or lively French songs sung by musical director Diana Lawrence, who sits just off-stage manning a synthesizer and drums.
| IF YOU GO |
| ‘A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics’ |
| » Where: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D St. NW |
| » When: 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday; 7 and 10 p.m. Friday; 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 p.m. Sunday |
| » Info: Tickets begin at $30; 202-393-3939; woollymammoth.net |
Although all the sketches succeed on various levels, some are simply witty, some more politically biting than others. One high point of the evening is a number in which Brown plays a Diana Ross-like figure wearing elbow-length white gloves, singing of how she is “searching for a man,” while the three other women function as her backup singers. Brown’s search leads her into the audience and into an extended, entertaining conversation with an audience member.
Second City is known for its improvisational work and the troupe provided one good improv number during its Sunday show. You know how it goes: They ask for a place, person and topic and that night they got the zoo, Adrian Fenty and education. With the wit and imagination that Second City is so good at mustering, they instantly came up with a clever mini-operetta about a little girl (Brown) who sneaks out of school to learn about animals, while Fenty (Bland), Breit, McClain and Sohn sang their hearts out about the horrible state of education today.
You won’t hear that number again in “A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics,” but if you go see Second City at Woolly Mammoth, you’re bound to hear something equally good.
