Love Hurts

Felicity wakes up one morning in a strange bed next to a man who she soon discovers is named Zamir. He claims to be Irish but seems to be of Arabic heritage; what is certain is that he has something of a violent nature, and that thanks to a rockin', booze-filled night at Hooters, Zamir is now Felicity's husband. The newlyweds visit Felicity's parents to share the good news, but Leonard, Felicity's father, is about as happy with his son-in-law as you'd expect a gun-toting, butterfly-collecting, neocon would be. And then, the violent beatings begin. Christopher Durang's black comedy Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them is an acerbic, topsy-turvy romp through the minefields of misogyny, the macho tendency to solve problems through brutal force and the upside of "enhanced interrogation" techniques — it's sorta like the War on Terror, only without the cable news anchors. HotCity Theatre presents Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday (February 12 through 27) at the Kranzberg Arts Center (501 North Grand Boulevard; 314-289-4063 or www.hotcitytheatre.org). Tickets are $20 to $25.
Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: Feb. 12. Continues through Feb. 27, 2010