Theater: Assault Play

In a potent import, the title isn't all that shocks

It's the play that dare not speak its name. In London the title of Mark Ravenhill's first work for the stage was obscured by discreet asterisks. In the U.S., where the ethics of oral sex is now bandied about on the evening news, the full obscenity has been restored, thus preventing most publications (including this one) from printing the play's name. But Shopping and F______ is more than just a shock-provoking title. The play opens with a character vomiting, assaults us with rough language and features brutally graphic scenes of sadomasochistic sex. Ah, the magic of live theater.

Just opened off-Broadway...

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