Eve Ensler brought her one-woman show, The Good Body, to Dallas. Dallas did not reciprocate.
What is clearly lacking is a modicum of market research. Ensler's audience, from all indications, dwells on the university campus populated mostly by idealistic young people coming to terms with their identities. For those of us who have found it, for better or worse, The Good Body has minimal appeal. At a Saturday matinee at the elegant Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas on a brisk, sunny afternoon, the house appeared to be only 25 percent occupied.
Ensler, who first entered the public consciousness with The Vagina Monologues, has shifted her attention to her seemingly imperfect stomach. The Good Body, 80 minutes without intermission, was an enjoyable 45 minutes. Thereafter, though Ms. Ensler was still going strong, her material was disintegrating before one's eyes. She began re-enacting dialogues between herself and women she met from various countries throughout the world, impersonating their accents and vocal cadences, all of which were virtually indistinguishable from each other. Ensler couldn't seem to decide whether to be funny or serious, and mostly she was neither.
But I'll give her one thing: the woman has stamina. About the best thing this reviewer can say about The Good Body is that, considering Ensler's passionate worldwide efforts to end violence against women, perhaps the end may justify her means.
