Review of The Hanged Woman by Brad Rosenstein in the SF Bay Guardian April 1, 1998

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The Hanged Woman
review by Brad Rosenstein

It's lipstick vs. leather in this new play by Lee Kiszonas, which centers on six habitués of a women's S-M bar targeted for violence by their less tolerant sisters. When the characters are allowed to interact, we pick up some interesting voices seldom heard in the theater. But for much of the play the women are either explaining their psychological motivations in tedious detail or climbing on a soapbox to deliver authorial public service announcements. The cast is clearly earnest, but other than some understated work by Lisa Kang, this Chameleon Theatre Company production is hobbled by amateurish overacting. There are a few bright moments from Bonnie Cardell as an über-mistress and Kiszonas herself as an outspoken bottom, but director Walter Niejadlik can't seem to find the play's rhythm or tone. Buried somewhere in this rambling tale are some compelling notions about the difference between hurt and harm, and the paradoxical nature of feeling in those for whom pain is a measure of identity. But the play is so eager to discuss and explain its subjects, it forgets to dramatize them.
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