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Theater Mon Feb 07 2011
Bordello
Chicago Dramatists take on the oldest profession head on with their current performance, Bordello, written by Aline Lathrop.
The entirety of Bordello takes place in the kitchen of Pussy Willow Ranch, located 60 miles outside of Las Vegas in the great state of Nevada.
It isn't easy dissecting this play. First of all, I am a man, and any thoughts I have about what I experienced have to be put into perspective. Having said that, Bordello is not a sexy romp through the lives of some of Nevada's premier sex workers-- not that I thought it would be. It is more like a glimpse into the lives of some people who happen to work in a place that happens to be a bordello.
Each of the women employed by Pussy Willow has their own reasons for being there. We learn why they are there and we see how jealousy and manipulation are used to control them by turning them on each other. We also see how they manipulate themselves in order to feel comfortable in their own skin.
Bordello doesn't do everything I would of liked it to have done, but that is the nature of realizing a fantasy, or at least a preconceived idea.
