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SIN-AGOG

nytheatre.com review by Michael Criscuolo
August 15, 2002

Sin-Agog, a new comedy about sex and religion, features a lively and mostly insatiable cast of characters. There's The Conflicted Evangelist (Jono Hustis), who worships Jesus but lusts after his cohort, The Alluring Jesus Freak (Kelly Scanlon), who has daily "conversations" with the Son of God; The Comic Time Bomb (Carol Todd), who decides to give motherhood a shot after a lifetime of casual, anonymous sex; The Gay Bartender (Steven Blevins), who hunts for the perfect trick and the perfect roommate; The Horny Monk (Brian Robinson), who's looking for action after seven years in a monastery; The Vile Nympho (Marie Pastormerlo), who humps and farts like a beast; and The Perfect Roommate (Michael Lundy) whose identity cannot be revealed—it's a surprise!

Writer/directors Brian Keyser and Allen Stafford keep the irreverence and the jokes rolling. They put The Alluring Jesus Freak in a "Christ" T-shirt that's a mock-up of the Crest toothpaste logo. They make The Comic Time Bomb recall a dream in which her vagina grows a tongue and licks itself. And, in one scene, they turn flatulence into an aphrodisiac. The excellent cast is game throughout, making Sin-Agog a funny statement about the tension between religious tenets and carnal desires, and a rousing kick-off to this year's FringeNYC Festival.