‘Water Closet’ Has Good Flow

The last decade is not quite over yet. Bill Clinton has a year left in office, hip-hop still reigns and a distinctly ‘90s sex comedy, John Benjamin Martin’s “The Water Closet,” is at the Whitmore/Lindley Theatre Center, six years after its Westside premiere.

Martin loves to write sex comedies, but with a crazed, adolescent accent, so his characters are never quite adult.

Martin’s recent “Out in the Woods” was about male obsessions with manhood, played out mostly in a cabin. The earlier “Water Closet” is a breezy gallery of male and female types taking breathers from a club’s dance floor in their respective bathrooms. Under Robert Koch’s tight direction and on a well-appointed Sidney Wickersham set, the action quickly cuts between the sides, allowing us to get intoxicated with the speed of talk and moment-to-moment encounters that amount to little.

Martin’s glibness with the easy one-liner is his biggest fault, and it’s amply displayed here. But his tendency not to take people too seriously allows him to show clubbing life as it really is: chance bumping of randy bodies in the dark.

Rachael Morison’s Helen is pretty randy, making out with Sandy (JR Esposito) in the guys’ bathroom, and then later, with constantly sweating Ken (a funny Joe Parisi). Sandy has his own surprises, such as being able to get to the other half’s inner sanctum by donning a dress.

Chip (Troy Harris) must contend with ultra-possessive Amber (an overacting Kara D’Ambrosio), whose struggles are the play’s only real downer. Clay (Dana Vitatoe) seems to be coasting through it all, sort of like veteran clubber and self-appointed “prophet of guilt-free sex” Joey (Fuzzy Fusaro). His tips to younger Gary (Rod Sweitzer) are the funniest moments of the night.

The women are, naturally, a bit more reflective and practical, as shown by the clear intent of Keri (Julie Wittner) to marry rich, or the attitude of Southern gal-pals Reby and Nina (Carrie Ann Quinn and Brooke Heys) that this is the place for a good time, not for finding Mr. Right. Candy (Tracey Rooney) isn’t sure about anything and becomes an easier-to-absorb version of the uptight Amber, with help from friend Loni (LT Fusaro) and the acerbic observations of Peg (Erika Stoner).

The list of characters is a juggling act; and, like running into people in a club, Martin knows he can’t plumb them deeply, so he just has fun. Although it may sometimes slip from a ‘90s attitude and feel more like a glimpse of having fun in the disco-ing ‘70s, “The Water Closet” never exceeds its limited grasp of the impossible differences between those in the men’s room and those in the ladies’.

BE THERE

“The Water Closet,” Whitmore/Lindley Theatre Center, 11006 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 26. $12-$14. (818) 506-8518. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.