Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same

Comments (0) By Melissa Anderson Wednesday, Jan 4 2012

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Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
Written and directed by Madeleine Olnek
January 6 through 12, ReRun Gastropub Theater

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Its special effects limited to interplanetary craft made of foil takeout containers, Madeleine Olnek's lo-fi divertissement proves to be more than just a jokey title. Three lavender-leaning extraterrestrials from the planet Zots, where too many "big feelings" damage the ozone, are sent to Earth to have their hearts broken, thus depleting themselves of the atmosphere-destroying emotions. With their bald heads, half-funnel collars, form-fitting tracksuits, and clipped, monotone voices, the trio wouldn't be out of place in a Curve magazine spread from 1995 or onstage at P.S. 122. Alighting in downtown Manhattan, two of the Zotsians fall in love with each other, while Zoinx (Susan Ziegler) becomes attached to earthling Jane (Lisa Haas), a bulky stationery-store employee. The played-out scenarios in Olnek's first feature, such as Jane's sessions with her therapist, are soon outnumbered by inspired silliness, like tears shed over a revolving dessert tray in a diner. More satisfyingly incongruous—and slyly subversive—exchanges take place between two black-suited agents, played by Dennis Davis and Alex Karpovsky, as they track the intergalactic sapphists' movements. The film's best joke, an absurd question Karpovsky asks Davis after he smugly describes his happy marriage, qualifies as its own queer invasion from outer space.