Director Craig Gustafson makes it clear what “Crumbs in Bed,” an evening of one-acts at the Riverfront Playhouse in Aurora, is all about.
“The theme is sex,” Gustafson said. “Talking about sex, trying to have sex, trying to avoid sex, dealing with the ramifications of having sex and having sex. This show is absolutely rated R. If you like comedy, you’ll love this show. If you like sex, you’ll love this show.
“If you like comedy and sex, you’ve hit the jackpot.”
“Crumbs in Bed,” nine one-act plays written by Rich Orloff, will be presented at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through April 16 at The Riverfront Playhouse in Aurora.
The show contains adult material and may not be suitable for children or sensitive viewers.
“‘Crumbs in Bed,’ which refers to the quirks and inconveniences that come with the territory of sex, is a night of hilarious, bawdy sketches and one-acts,” said Gustafson, a first-time director at Riverfront.
The evening includes such one-acts as “Nightmare with a Sexy Skirt,” in which a man finds himself on a blind date with an extremely forceful and unbalanced woman; “Vegetarians in Lust,” about a man and woman who are striving to eat healthy, but junk food, and sex, get in the way; and “At the Orgy,” which is a switch on Abbott & Costello’s “Who’s on First?” comedy routine.
“One of the plays is called ‘Four Extremely Attractive Women Sitting around Fantasizing About (Your Name Here),'” Gustafson said. “Male audience members can pay a dollar to enter a raffle. Whoever wins the raffle has his name used in the show as four women graphically fantasize about him.”
The sexual nature of the show caused immediate problems for Gustafson.
“The most difficult piece to stage is the one where two people end up having sex, and we have to keep it realistic without getting raided,” he said. “I have to keep the rating R and not X.”
Five women and five men in the cast play multiple roles.
“Three actors have two parts and all the rest have three parts,” Gustafson said. “I considered casting each sketch separately since there is a total of 27 roles, but while that’s easier to do logistically, it means, for instance, that one of the actors, who is coming from Palatine, would be driving an hour each way for half an hour of rehearsal. So the idea was to cast 10 actors and try to give everybody an equal amount of stage time.”
Gustafson realizes that one-acts can be a tough sell.
“There is this weird perception that somehow one-acts are not as worthy as full-length shows that have had productions in New York or Chicago,” he said. “So people miss out on some great stuff that they would really like. Great theater is great theater. Size doesn’t matter.”
Randall G. Mielke is a freelance writer.
‘Crumbs in Bed’
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through April 16
Where: The Riverfront Playhouse, 11-13 South Water Street Mall, Aurora
Tickets: $17 adult; $15 student/senior
Information: 630-897-9496 or www.riverfrontplayhouse.com
