THE PHOENIX

Loyals with cheese. Stranger things have happened than a cheeseball-making queen played by Dorisa Boggs, left, fleeing her orthodox religious commun= ity, the plot of a Sedaris siblings comedy. Lindsey Meyers is at center, and Kevin Broccoli is at right. PH= OTO BY ROBIN STONE

Newport Mercury

SWEAT INEQUITY<= o:p>

THEATER REVIEW:'THE BOOK OF LIZ'

By Amy Sedaris and David Sedaris

Directed by Robin Stone

Through July 7

The Barn Summer Playhouse

Roger Williams University Performing Arts Center=

Performances Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.

$10, $5 students, seniors

(401)254-3666

BY JILLIAN RODRIGUEZ

We finally find out who cut the cheese in Roger Williams University's first summer production of wacky brother and sister t= eam David and Amy Sedaris' "The Book of Liz." The unusual story of the world's most delicious cheese balls and the sweaty nun who creates them is a dry and somewhat raunchy comedy perfect for anyone who likes their humor wi= th a side of indecency.

Despite not being given a place or time for this= play, the audience is playfully flung between two distinct settings: a secluded p= arish community (likened to that of the Amish) and the outside world filled with = the many complications of modern society. Hysterically, we move between these places with the music of modern songs like Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and REM's "Losing My Religion," adapted to so= und like church hymns sung by monks.

The title character is Sister Elizabeth "Liz" Donderstock, played by a sweet = and sincere Dorisa Boggs. Liz's crucial role in the parish is her ability to cr= eate the world's most delicious Gou= da cheese balls, which have become the parish's main source of income. Liz is a loveable character, despite having an uncontrollable sweating problem, but = her amiability allows her to be degraded by the smug Rev. Tollhouse played by <= st1:PersonName w:st=3D"on">Mick Jones. She soon decides to leave her pari= sh home behind and bravely ventures into a world she's never known.

The unlikely protagonist encounters several odd characters on her bizarre heroic journey, including a crass Ukrainian woman named Oxana (Lindse= y Meyers) who wears a peanut costume on the side of a highway to make a decent living. Meyer's Oxana hilariously shouts obscenities at passersby who throw breakfast burritos at her, and somehow the contrasting = duo become friends, while Liz wonders, "What's a breakfast burrito, anyway?"

Liz finds work at a chain restaurant called "Plymouth Crock," a place where she can wear her burlap dress as a uniform and not be discovered. There she befriends a recovering alcoholic a= nd homosexual named Duncan Trask, played by the wi= tty and energetic Jay Miscia. Again, Liz finds it easy to make friends with those w= ho live a very different existence, and her versatility is rewarded with a promotion to restaurant manager on the condition that she medically elimina= tes her sweating problem.

After six months of living in the harsh reality = of modern life, and forced to change her body in order to be accepted, Liz yea= rns for the simplicity of a life she once knew as her parish's cheese ball extraordinaire. But upon her return, Liz finds a very different parish than= the one she once abandoned.

Acting in this play was phenomenally entertainin= g, and each unique character brought something special to the table. From the longwinded spunk of Meyers' Sister Constance Butterworth, to the flawless l= isp of George Billing's Nathaniel Brightbee, all ac= tors were distinctively memorable.

The comedy in this production is at times very r= aunchy and crude, and I heard a few gasps from the elderly women sitting in the row behind me. So, if you plan to attend this production, which I hope you do, = be forewarned that sometimes humor is best when it's as uncomfortable as a swe= aty nun making cheese balls.

3 July 2007