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<\/p>\nPor Jean Lowerison<\/p>\n
The road to enlightenment may be paved with good intentions, but for high-end yogawear manufacturer Jojomon (not much interested in enlightenment), the road to riches seems laden with stress.<\/p>\n
Still, Jojomon is doing well under the frazzled head of recently hired CEO Joan (Jo Anne Glover), thanks in part to inflated clothing prices like $200 for a pair of lavender-scented yoga pants. Any perceived resemblance between Jojomon and Lululemon is strictly intentional.<\/p>\n
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Joan has recently had to try to distance the company as quickly as possible from costly gaffes like founder John\u2019s infelicitous comment that women who complain that Jojomon\u2019s pants are too see-through may just be carrying around excess poundage.<\/p>\n
Moxie Theatre\u2019s current offering, Dipika Guha\u2019s \u201cYoga Play\u201d takes great delight in outlining (and messing with) the intersection between Eastern philosophy and Western capitalism. But rest assured that this is no dry dissertation on ideals vs. money. \u201cYoga Play\u201d is funny \u2014 laugh-out-loud funny.<\/p>\n In an attempt to derail any residual resistance from John\u2019s comment, Joan comes up with a revolutionary idea: adding size 12 to its line. After a weak complaint that the clothing line is \u201caspirational,\u201d John greenlights the idea and a new factory in Bangladesh is contracted.<\/p>\n But soon thereafter, a new disaster looms: the BBC airs a segment stating that the factory is a sweatshop hiring mostly children, many as young as 9 years old.<\/p>\n This calls for another Joan fix.<\/p>\n In the executive meeting with Raj (Sri Chilukuri) and Fred (Albert Park), you can almost see Joan\u2019s brain about to explode as she deals with this potential business disaster.<\/p>\n Her solution: Jojomon will import a real live guru to calm the waters and purify the company\u2019s image. And perhaps reestablish their fading authenticity.<\/p>\n It gets crazier and funnier from there, as staff prepares for the guru\u2019s arrival and Raj takes yoga lessons from unbelievably limber (and lovely) Romola (Tamara Rodriguez) so Jojomon won\u2019t seem totally \u2014 how shall I say it? \u2014 inauthentic.<\/p>\n Moxie\u2019s associate artistic director Callie Prendiville makes an impressive directorial debut here, keeping all the balls in the air and the stress under control.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a real pleasure to see Jo Anne Glover back onstage. She is the perfect Joan \u2014 capable, determined and totally stressed out. She\u2019s the one who needs yoga lessons (don\u2019t be fooled: Glover is a yoga expert in real life).<\/p>\n Sri Chilukuri is a welcome new face on the Moxie stage. His Raj is funny (especially when he tries to learn some yoga poses from Tamara Rodriguez). And when Raj and Albert Park\u2019s Fred are called upon to speak Hindi (which neither knows) \u2014 well, it\u2019s a gas.<\/p>\n Kudos to set designer Divya Murthy, who manages to get both businesslike and more spiritual looks on opposite sides of the stage.<\/p>\n Lighting and sound are well handled by Christopher Renda and Matt Lescault-Wood.<\/p>\n East and West have always met rather uneasily. That\u2019s true here, too, but in \u201cYoga Play\u201d it\u2019s also fun.<\/p>\n![\"\u2018Yoga](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/DSC07104-1024x681.jpg\")
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Much of the dialogue takes place on the phone, and Matthew Salazar-Thompson and Rodriguez share seven phone characters splendidly.<\/p>\n