[ Stage Index | SF Metropolitan | MetroActive Central | Archives ]

Theater Review

Cold Discomfort By Millie El Niño isn't the only natural disaster to hit San Francisco this month. Check out the New Conservatory Theater Center's production of David Mauriello's insipid drama Come in From the Rain. Part of NCTCs Pride Season, this show is about the search for intimacy between an uptight banker and a wayward street hustler. Will this mismatched couple somehow find what they're looking for in one another's embrace? Will the prissy banker finally admit that he's gay? Will the street hustler stop smoking pot and clean up his act? Will they prance around naked for no apparent reason? Guess. The whole thing could've been wrapped up in about 20 minutes. Of course, we would've miss all the stuff about broken homes and life on the street and, of course, gay bashing. Just think of one of those overly earnest after-school specials in the mid-'80s. Bill Allen (Tom, the hustler) and Markham Miller (Michael, the banker) make the best of a ridiculous script. Choice lines include "When there's hot apple pie on the table and you're told it's for the church supper, you don't touch it. So you wait. And you go on waiting for the rest of your life!" (Huh?) Miller has some funny moments when he gets detailed and prissy about coffee. Allen isn't totally unappealing. (However, he needs to pull up his jeans.) Director Ed Decker ensures lots of crotch shots and shaved asses. I think the guy in back of me was jerking off. Tits are out. Cocks are in. "Cock and balls, cock and balls," says the hustler in a particularly banal come-on to the virgin banker. It could be the slogan of the NCTC's season. It's not just boring. It's insulting. Plays at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Ave.; through March 8, Wed.-Sat., 8pm; $16-$20; 415/861-8972. [ San Francisco | MetroActive Central | Archives ]