Strip World!

Halfway through the first act of this collection of one-acts about the inner workings of the world of strippers, I began wondering what, I bet, most of the dozen or so apparently single men in the audience were wondering: Where's the stripping? Was it that writer, director, and sometime actor Rey Carolino wanted to get to the true heart of what it means to be a stripper without the distraction of a pert nipple? Was it that his bevy of actresses, after reading the thinly developed scripts and getting a taste of Rey's lackluster direction, saw no career benefits in throwing off their micro minis and lycra tops? It's not that you need full frontal jiggle to make something sexy, but without it — or anything else especially provocative — Strip World! is only one man's two-hour ode to the strippers he has contemplated for years, instead of the erotic, fun romp it reaches for and never grasps. — Molly Rhodes