Backstage NYCoke-Free J.A.P.Fielding Edlow takes audience members on an eye-opening blind date in her one-woman performance piece, "Coke-Free J.A.P." and little do viewers know what's in store for them. By the end of the hour-long piece, the writer/actress has broached many a taboo topic with a combination of sensitivity, self-deprecation, and humor. The bittersweet barbs are purposely offensive but often poignant.Subtitled "A Brief History of Beauty, Terror and Trial by Fire," the play unfolds in a young woman's apartment. She greets her unseen date with flirtatious innuendo and disastrous dating stories, shocking him with her in-your-face attitude and sabotaging any chance for lasting romance. Not able to let her sarcastic guard down, she never gets to know her intended suitor, but does make a few enlightening discoveries about herself before the night is over. Developed and directed by Eva Minemar, the structure and pacing is ideal for a one-person play, allowing the character to totally connect with the audience. Edlow — who gleefully recalls being likened to a "mini Barbara Hershey" — is fully committed to her material, alternately mischievous and militant. Her writing is subway poetry: a saucy, sexy, streetwise take on the age-old battle of the sexes. ["Coke-Free J.A.P."] could be a primer for young males everywhere who only think they know where their dates are coming from. Reviewed by Elias Stimac 8/27/2001 "Coke-Free J.A.P." presented by the NY International Fringe Festival and Lemonade Productions in association with Angry Bubble Productions. |