Playwright Liz Duffy Adams takes audiences to sea in the world premiere of “Wet, or, Isabella the Pirate Queen Enters the Horse Latitudes.” The Moxie Theatre production plays Thursday through Sunday through Dec. 10 at the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza (619.544-1000 or www.moxietheatre.com).
Any who saw Moxie’s production of Adams’s “Dog Act” know that her work is a field day for lovers of language. More accessible than “Dog Act” in many ways (the language is more penetrable), “Wet” is a true delight to what Richard Lederer would no doubt term “verbivores.” She has a keen wit, an off-the-wall approach to words and a sassy approach to humankind’s problems, especially pertinent to politics, war and gender.
Moreover, Duffy takes a Shakespearean romantic saga approach, and as a result the play is infused with fetching visual and aural ideas and references. Though they take a while to establish, each character is richly drawn and ultimately lovable.
Isabella (Jo Anne Glover) and the remnants of her sunken pirate-ship crew – the volatile Jenny (incomparable Liv Kellgren), the electrifying Sally (sweet, seductive Jennifer Eve Thorn), and Viscountess Marlene (Don Loper in the most delicious drag ever) — forcefully take over a tattered, becalmed and defeated warship, on which only three crew survive: the inexplicably sad Captain Joppa (impressive Tom Deak), the philosophic Horatio (magnificent Laurence Brown) and innocent young Jack (surprising Chris Walsh).
Each tells his or her story, and the balance of power shifts as new alliances are formed and the wind still refuses to blow. Despite her toughness, Isabella’s goal is a Utopian island she calls “Mirago,” where she will resign her cutlass and be a citizen, along with everyone else.
Delicia Turner Sonnenberg’s canny direction adds to the delight of Adams’s words. A more admirable and attractive company cannot be imagined. Jerry Sonnenberg’s clean-lined set, Fred Kinney’s voluptuous costumes, Eric Lotze’s lighting and Rachel Le Vine’s sound make magnificent contributions. Tim Griffin’s fight choreography is believable and effective even at close range, and when the pirates and warriors break into song it’s to the music of Cliff Caruthers, with the singers coached by Steve Gunderson. The effect is lovely.
