Capsule Stage Reviews: Constant Star, Hunter Gatherers, Little Women

Hunter Gatherers The inner beast grabs a glorious moment to roar in Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's Hunter Gatherers, a hysterical story full of sex, naked butts and death. Thank the folks at Catastrophic Theatre for this night filled with evil laughter — they've put together a stunning production, led by a fabulous foursome of a cast. At center stage is a moving and funny Charlesanne Rabensburg wearing a headband as sweet Pam, who was valedictorian of her class and still likes to relive the glory of the speech she gave as a teenager. Greg Dean will make you weep with laughter at his hedonistically raging Richard, the ex-jock who still needs to prove his worth by pounding other men. Amy Bruce makes an outrageously funny narcissist as Wendy the wild girl, who still wants to whoop at the moon like she did at senior prom. Finally, there's Troy Schulze as the hilarious sad sack Tom, who can't get it up unless he's got a woman's fingers around his throat. They all come together one horrific night to eat dinner, drink gallons of wine, smoke a little weed and relive their past glory. Many terrible and laugh-till-your-face-hurts moments occur: A lamb gets slaughtered, a man is almost raped, a woman orgasms. This is not family-friendly theater, but thanks to this terrific cast and Jason Nodler's dead-on direction, it's the funniest grown-up play anyone's put on this season.