POPCORN, Profiles Theatre. Surprisingly this clear-eyed, sharp-edged satire of contemporary Hollywood was written by a Brit. Maybe we’re all so wrapped up in entertaining ourselves that we can’t see things as clearly as Ben Elton. There isn’t a wrong move in his very funny dark comedy, about a violence-loving director (think Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino) who suddenly finds his house invaded by a pair of psychos modeling their killing spree on the director’s current bloody hit, a Natural Born Killers knockoff called “Ordinary Americans.” The play’s targets are easy–LA superficiality, Hollywood BS, and southern-fried criminals–but Elton manages to find something original to say about American violence, the movie industry, and our sensation-hungry media. He’s also a great storyteller who keeps us on the edge of our seats.
