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Comedy Thu Jan 26 2012
The Mary Kay Letourneau Players Present The Mary Kay Letourneau Players Present...
If anyone could restore dignity and honor to Mary Kay Letourneau's name it's The Mary Kay Letourneau Players, otherwise known as Kate Duffy and Katie Rich. The duo, directed by Irene Marquette, recently opened their sketch show The Mary Kay Letourneau Players Present... at iO, playing Sunday nights at 10:30.
From a pair of prickly old women to a dense architect to a tough-as-nails Russian mail-order bride, Duffy and Rich are skilled at creating and portraying outrageous characters with humanity and nuance. The two start out with familiar characters, then turn them on their ears with hilarious quirks and situations. The hungover Mass-hole who passed out in a sheet cake turns out to be a lawyer who's still dealing with feelings for an ex. The crotchety old wedding guest reveals that she wants to be cremated and "tossed only in fun places." The pair playfully skews the audience's expectations in a series of unpredictable scenes, and director Marquette weaves them together seamlessly.
Both Duffy and Rich are accomplished sketch and improv comedians (Second City, iO), but both women are also talented actresses. The pair can deftly switch from accent to accent, and though some of their characters can be quite broad, their portrayals are always grounded and never over the top. Duffy, in particular, has a vulnerability that makes her characters especially enjoyable to watch.
The Mary Kay Letourneau Players Present... runs Sunday nights at 10:30pm at iO, 3541 N. Clark St., in the Del Close Theatre. Tickets are $5 and available online, over the phone at 773-880-0199, or at the box office.
