Playwright: Written and performed by Kris Andersson. At: Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted. Phone: 312-988-9000; $44-$49. Runs through: May 15
Whatever it is that Ms. Dixie Longate swills onstage from the eye-popping fuchsia tumbler (with matching sippy-straw) must be laced with enough caffeine to fuel a NASCAR conference. Never for an instant during the 90 minutes we spend in her sunny-bright company does she swerve from the goal of a Tupperware Party hostess, which is to create an atmosphere of warmth and empathy conducive to seducing her guests into buying the merchandise providing the premise for this festive occasion.
This celebration of domestic management has been observed in U.S. homes for more than half a century, beginning in the late 1940s, soon after the war-developed substance called "plastic" increasingly replaced glass, china and metal in the manufacture of commonplace items. It was also a time when the patriotic women who held down the jobs while the men were off kicking Hitler's heinie were forced back into unpaid "homemaking" duties. Ah, but then one disenfranchised matron came up with the idea of peddling Earl Tupper's new unbreakable kitchenware at quasi-social events appealing to stay-at-home wives isolated in the burgeoning suburban communitieshence, the "Tupperware Party."
Kris Andersson's one-woman show acquaints us with this history, in addition to demonstrating the virtues of the still-popular culinary gadgets. (The catalogs on your chairs are the real deal, so be warned that you will be charged for what you order.) But this isn't the hen-session you remember attending with your motheror grandmother. Ms. Dixie knows what sells nowadays and her patter, delivered with the speed of a tobacco auctioneer and the exuberance of a revivalist preacher, takes advantage of every opportunity to note the sexually-oriented versatility of her goods. (There is the cake decorator with the wide selection of nozzles, for example, or the child's ball-toy inspiring a stream of double-entendres at the expense of a couple cajoled from the audience at the performance I attended.)
With the re-entry of women into the workplace, living-room group-shopping is more often centered on cosmetics or lingerie than housekeeping supplies. However, Andersson's look at an earlier chapter in our nation's cultural evolution reminds us of the role played by such grassroots enterprises in extending income and independence to economically-marginalized citizens. Even if you just come for the irreverentbut never pettyhomophile/gynecentric humor, Ms. Dixie's indefatigable charm will quickly have you cheering her.