Philosophy in the Boudoir

The edgiest piece of theatre I've ever seen. The other attempts to bring the works of Sade to the stage I've watched fall woefully short of where this Brazilian troupe went. Bravo to the cast and crew for their daring, bold performance. Buyer beware - read the disclaimer and take heed; they're not joking. For the strong of heart (and stomach) only. ... full review

I appreciate what happened. And it definitely happened. "Not my thing" would be a good way to describe it. It's shocking, libertinesque, it's a lot of nudity. It still just wasn't my thing. Very presentational, somewhat disconnected. There are some excellent demonstrations of complete control over the human body, as well as a particularly satisfying scene presenting the "rules" of the libertine. Otherwise, I was put off by the plot. It did allow me to see my very first "shit eating grin."... full review

http://www.examiner.com/article/extremities-at-stage-door-rep-preview-of-hollywood-fringe ... full review

Very well done! Epic Theater at it's best. ... full review

Certainly makes you think, and a fairly good theatricalization of the text. Challenging material, no question about it, but only a few of the cast members were really able to breath life into their characters, so things fell flat at times. ... full review

I liked this only because there were naked Brazilians masturbating on stage. Not good theatre, stupid actually. But hey, you got masturbating Brazilians to keep it interesting.... full review

While I was watching this I just wished I was watching "Dangerous Liaisons". Or even "The Libertine". In these works we were treated to a world that was at once erotic, exciting, thoughtful, and disturbing. In PHILOSOPHY, we are treated to... I'm not sure what. I don't know who these people are. Things happen, certainly. Mostly to them. We don't so much as witness the emotional/intellectual transformation of the young virgin so much as we watch her immediately begin to fondle and hit people. Speaking of which, to take a page from the Ebert school of safety, if you're going to have your actors expose and degrade themselves in this way there better be a damn good point. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude. (And the power of this show is tha... full review

I was preparing for on stage hardcore porn, and if you do that, this show actually seems quite tame. This is a beautifully light production with very committed actors (not to mention flexible) who's only short-coming is a text that's a bit wordy. But it's Marquis de Sade, you can't mess with that. Yes, this play is edgy. Yes, this play has nudity. But yes, this play is totally worth it. Theatre is supposed to transport you - this is a show that most certainly does that. ... full review

OK. This show is wildly uneven. Some of the acting is below average, a couple are fine. One (Raissa Eckmann Peniche) is wonderful. The actors are Brazilian and doing the play in English is obviously difficult for some, so I'm giving them some slack on performance. The show feels like it's trying to shock rather than trying to tell the story honestly. Some of the actors escape from the forced-shock-value nature of the show and deliver convincing performances, but that doesn't make up for the clunky writing. The nudity feels forced at times, but then again, in the setting of the show, I'd expect everybody to be naked all of the time. It just felt unnatural, and it's not because anybody was uncomfortable, no they're all very comfortable in thei... full review

Crass, yet boring. Philosophy in the Boudoir is like a limp dick straddling the fence between pornography and art. For my taste, it should either commit fully to one or the other and do it well than to lie lamely in the middle. ... full review