Chaste June 17, 2010

Director by Kate Hendrickson and playwright Ken Prestininzi tapped into the mesmerizing and maddening with 'AmeriKafka,' while their 'Beholder' was intimate and bold (and won a Joseph Jefferson for Best New Play). Now these two long time collaborators seek out the ecstatic in 'Chaste,' their third Trap Door Theatre production. A man named Nietzsche bets the triumph of his will against the incomparable desires of a virginal girl named Lu. Based on a true incident, 'Chaste' wildly imagines a Nietzsche who agrees to live in a chaste menage a trois with his best friend and a fearless God-slaying young woman. Salvation is close and insanely always out of reach. Despite their promises to bring out the most brilliant in each other, a primal battle for love and domination begins. Their unchecked ambition and reckless intimacy surprises all three. 'Pygmalion' never had it so bad, nor 'Red Riding Hood' so good, as they do in this comedy of their own devising.