Superheroes Who are Patriotic!

Fri., July 2, 8 p.m., $15, Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St., 215-735-0630, savethedayproductions.org.

by Will Stone

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Jun 30, 2010

[ avengers assembly ]

Nothing spells patriotism like a Nazi-bashing hunk of muscled-out red, white and blue. So leave your 3-D spectacles at home because Super Heroes Who Are Super!'s soap-operatic antics and thinly caped prurience go beyond all proportions. As the 11th show in this Marvel-inspired series of staged readings and performances, this production of Captain America Comics #1 and The Avengers #4, "Captain America Lives Again!" stays true to the troupe's "purposefully low-budget" mantra, relying on special effects that in the past included silly string, squirt guns mounted on fans and piranhas that bear a suspicious resemblance to goldfish. Director Daniel Student prefers to call SHWAS' tongue-in-cheek brand of humor "the democratic performance of comic books." But for all you Independence Day traditionalists, never fear: The show will not devalue your patriotism points. To be sure, Captain America's gung-ho freedom fighting — pictured on the Marvel cover as giving Adolf an upper cut — resonates now as much as ever. Just expect a spiced-up holiday helping of superhero eroticism in the form of a man-boy relationship between the Captain and his sidekick Bucky, a cameo by Hulk paramour Betty Ross and what Student promises to be "a great cross-gender moment."

Go Fourth
Straight and Butch
Icepack
Nikola Tesla Energy Independence Celebrations
Full Bloom Lavender Tour
Professional Touch Fitness
Baltimore Avenue $1 Stroll