Trashy Little Darlings

Don't be fooled by the sweet title of dos chicas theater commune's latest play, Media Darlings. The work, in keeping with the edgy dos chicas style, is anything but sugarcoated. "It was the first thing I did that I was afraid to invite my mother to see," says director Paul Drake, who starred in the first run of Darlings when it made its debut ten years ago. "There's nothing sexually explicit," Drake explains. "But the characters do use the F-word a couple...hundred times."

Set in the squalid Chicago living room of two sisters who aspire to wealth and stardom, Darlings is a cautionary tale about the perils of fake celebrity and reality television (as if Jessica Simpson weren't warning enough). "These sisters are really trashy," says Drake, talking about the set. "So [for the set] we wanted something that looks bad but, God forbid, won't attract rats." The trashy twosome set out to knock off a few convenience stores to earn some notoriety, then end up learning a valuable lesson or two in what Drake describes as a "twist ending." Let's hope one of them involves throwing out their chicken bones.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Starts: March 10. Continues through March 28