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Leave the tykes at home for this deftly lewd tribute to the legendary Shel Silverstein.

Sunday Jul 01, 2007.     By Adam Fendelman

Theater Feed

"Twisted vignettes" they absolutely are. While I'll leave the concepts these stories explore a surprise, suffice it to say they are for ripened souls, they are benevolently warped and they pay poetic homage to the legendary Shel Silverstein. The Born Naked Theatre Company's "An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein" at the Gorilla Tango is worth every one of its 1,500 pennies.

Excluding occasional exceptions to the theme, much of the production's segments gel cogently in Shel-like rhyme. In other words, the ensemble didn't purposefully, plainly, persistently, perseveringly, unwaveringly, tenaciously, decisively, intentionally, adamantly, restlessly, laboriously, painstakingly and vigilantly string the pieces together in cheesy unison like I just did. In their version, it worked.

The shorts impart wide diversity. One of the one-acts features a total of two words: "meat" and "potatoes," which sexually transmute into male and female genitalia through pointing, grabbing, vocal inflection and explicit intention. With so much repetition and so little to say verbally, this is a fiddly and ingenious competition about who's boss. Kudos go to Amy Gorelow and Justin Warren, who have just the right dose of chemistry and talent to pull it off.

One last clue: If you're the pack-rat type (no shame if you are), you'll hopefully appreciate the art in the "bag lady" bit. Cramming someone else's leftover oatmeal, one lost tennis shoe and a hubcap into a purse and Bloomingdale's medium brown bag offers unadulterated hilarity.

"An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein" runs through July 15 at the Gorilla Tango Theatre. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $15.