STUFFED


Based on this first-time play, one can say that Lisa Lampanelli is better at standup than at being a playwright. She is on to a good topic with ‘Stuffed” (additional material by Ashley Austin Morris), but unlike the problem of overeating that the characters discuss, this production presented by WP Theater is low on calories.

Lampanelli, who also is one of the stars, has good company-- Ann Harada, Zainab Jah and Jessica Luck. Together they have ensemble appeal. Lampanelli, who has lost considerable weight with the aid of surgery, looks so much different than she has in her best known comedy work, easy to catch up with on Youtube. She appears here with a mix of blonde and blue hair.

The author has written a heap of dialogue dealing with attempts to deal with the desire to eat more than one should and the difficult effort to diet. The performers gossip together about the issue, and each one gets to tell a personal story.

At points, Lampanelli steps forward to address the audience with a flash of a standup approach. She tosses in some of the vulgarities for which she is known, topping it off at the end with a declaration that she’d perform oral sex for a muffin.

The trouble is that even though the show, which has no intermission, is not especially long, is lightly directed by Jackson Gay and is occasionally funny, after a while a feeling of repetition sets in, and one can conclude that the subject has already been covered enough in this offering. At the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway (at 76th Street)+. Reviewed Oct. 17, 2016.




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