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Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies

nytheatre.com review by Alexander Zalben
August 15, 2005

With Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies, Matt Chaffee’s amiable sex romp, sitcom-hungry audiences finally have a play to call their own. Four friends live, love, discuss, and meet every night at the local bar to talk about their experiences with the opposite sex; or lack of experiences as the case may be.The most important word in the title is bunnies, as this play, as a whole, is mostly harmless. In fact, the most shocking thing about it (unless you find yourself tittering at the mere mention of the words “penis” and “vagina”) is that such a generic farce is playing in the FringeNYC Festival. Where’s the Bush-bashing? The thirty minutes of conceptual dance with background multimedia-installation? The show's one musical number is even presented non-ironically, and just for the sheer joy of watching the ensemble dance.The ensemble, in fact, is the best thing about the show. On a whole, they clearly enjoy working with each other, and that likeability translates well onto the stage. Particularly enjoyable are Samuel Bliss Cooper as “Baby Boy,” the naive and hopeful member of the quartet; and Matt Chaffee (also the playwright) as Tommy, the gruff and randy “Dude With a Heart of Gold.”The writing is fine. It seems to operate under the assumption that if the characters talk fast, then they must be witty. On the whole, they are not. It also seems to think that it is exploring love from angles never before discovered. It is not. However, that hardly seems to matter when the audience is enjoying it so much.And that, in essence, is what the show is: a crowd-pleaser in the mold of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, or one DNA strand away from sitcoms like Two and a Half Men or Friends. In a festival known for shows that work overtime to alienate their audience or discomfort them, isn’t it nice to have a show that wants nothing more than to make you happy?Answer: Yes.