Barebones Productions has ‘Crocodile Fever’ Onstage (Sun., 10/6/24)

CROCODILE FEVER by Meghan Tyler. Barebones productions. October 4 – 20. 

Opening its new season with a bang, barebones productions presents a play that’s been called “Tarantino for feminists.” A recent staging in Baltimore came with a trigger warning 50 words long, advising that the play includes “strong language, references to domestic and sexual abuse, graphic violence … fake blood and gore in abundance … simulated excessive drinking of alcohol,” and more. But don’t get overly spooked. Crocodile Fever, by Irish theater artist Meghan Tyler, is billed as an over-the-top dark comedy infused with magical realism. Which means you will laugh, and it’s ART. The play is set not in a tropical crocodile climate, but in the tense climate of Northern Ireland amid the civil strife of the Troubles. The key characters are two sisters who live with their elderly dad. The story arc is somewhat similar to Sam Sheppard’s True West, in which two brothers—a mild-mannered one and wild one—go bonkers. Except in this play, the sisters go far beyond stealing toasters and rassling. See Crocodile Fever in the barebones black box, 2 p.m. 1211 Braddock Ave., Braddock. (M.V.) 

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