SOMEONE NEEDS TO sit playwright Mark Ravenhill down and explain the concept of gratuitous nudity to him. He seems to have a dreadful problem remembering the gratuitous part. While I certainly have no objection to a little slap 'n' tickle on the stage, and a bare bottom or two can be a delightful treat, dick shots and butt sex are the entire raison d'etre behind Shopping and Fucking, despite all of Ravenhill's desperate pretenses to the contrary.

In his adults-only dark comedy, Ravenhill parades a lurid crew of prostitutes, junkies, and sex slaves across the stage, under the gimmicky and misguided notion that the more pathetic, neurotic, and addicted the characters are, the more "real" and theatrically potent they become. Then, with only the barest suspicion of an actual plot holding them together, he weaves his characters in and out of implausible and illegitimate situations with weak and unrealistic resolutions. It seems Ravenhill is so preoccupied with posturing and sensationalizing that he squanders the opportunity to make a meaningful comment, or bother with trifles such as story and character development -- something that, unfortunately, every piece of legitimate theater needs, no matter how naked the characters are or how many times they say "fuck."

What keeps Shopping and Fucking from being little more than a rather disturbing live porn flick is the noble efforts of an excellent cast. Even though the play's five characters are written in a pat, two-dimensional manner and offer little for the audience to embrace, this doesn't deter the actors portraying them from putting their hearts into their roles and delivering some powerful performances. As Robbie, the sexually nebulous party boy, Josh Sebers creates a lovable, vulnerable, and touching character who delivers the play's most memorable and meaningful moments. Mollia Jensen provides a refreshing realism and chemistry as Lulu, and Philip Endicot is fun and appropriately pathetic as Mark, the pop-psychology-spouting heroin addict. Unfortunately, these characters are written to never evolve past the muddy world of filth and mediocrity Ravenhill has created for them -- an obstacle even the most gifted actor is powerless to overcome.