Sax & the Single Dyke

"Lesbians can sleep with men these days -- everyone's over that separatist shit," says saxophonist Lanie (C. Dianne Manning) after a wild night with her roommate's ex-husband. As the quote attests, you can expect just about anything from Margery Kreitman's funny and touching new play, a veritable slice of lesbian life in the livelier neighborhoods of San Francisco. Lanie's really in love with her roommate, Jackie (Nancy Maloney), but Jackie's still in the closet. Things heat up anyway until Jackie's ex and new San Francisco Chroniclejazz critic Gordon (Shane Kramer) arrives, and the jealous Lanie meets Jazz (J. Tiffany Holland), a "Latter-day Sadist." The four then proceed to change partners as often as in a square dance, each seeking either true love or his or her true identity. Lanie takes a turn as Jazz's fantasy 15-year-old virgin -- complete with Catholic-girl skirt and a collar with a retractable leash -- and feeds Jazz (an Overeater's Anonymous regular) in an entertaining restaurant scene. Soon Jackie's at the receiving end of Jazz's sex toys, learning about "the inner phallus," and Gordon's in full drag and lovin' it. It's hard to tell who's having more fun -- the cast or the audience. Holland commands the stage, strutting about in a studded leather jacket and snapping her fingers, while Kramer plays a wonderfully ditsy queen. Maloney's Jackie is quirky and neurotic, nicely countering Manning, who nails her performance as the sympathetic but fallible Lanie. The two share a moving last scene that balances the earlier soap opera episodes. John Morace supplies the energetic direction, creating a simple yet beautiful framing device. Add Lou Cubba's graceful saxophone music and you've got a swingin' addition to any Pride Week festivities.