Nuanced ‘Naked’ Reveals Many Truths

Despite the title and the provocative advertising art, Rodrick Semaan and Tightrope West’s production of Joyce Carol Oates’ “I Stand Before You Naked” has no nudity. Brian Morri directs a five-woman cast in this sensitively nuanced interpretation at the Lillian Theatre, capturing both the hilarity and poignancy of women searching for love in 10 disparate solo vignettes.

Standout performances include Mandy June Turpin as the pathetically delusional wife of a mass murderer. As the ghost of a murdered dancer-prostitute, Juliet Fischer has the confident physicality required, and her comedic skills smooth a somewhat bumpy transition to the following segment about the other end of the social scale.

In that one, Kathleen M. Darcy is particularly memorable in her elegant daffiness as the Wealthy Lady whose morning is filled with “powder blue smiles.” Darcy skillfully expresses a perky unhappiness as the nice girl trapped in a nice life, imagining nice usages of her husband’s revolver.

Julie Neumark shines as a young girl in love and later as an anorexic teen obsessing about her one meal for the day--an orange. Antonia Bath convinces as the failed seductress of an underage teen and again as an unattractive woman hiding behind forced cheerfulness.

The only misstep is the unrelenting bitterness of Matt Godecker’s line readings as the unborn son of the pregnant single mother (Darcy). But this is a minor quibble with an otherwise thoughtful production managing to balance the comic with the tragic in a respectful look at the choices women make for love.

* “I Stand Before You Naked,” Lillian Theatre, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood. Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sept. 20. $12-$15. (310) 614-6784. Running time: 1 hour,40 minutes.