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Through March 9: "Playboy of the Western World"

Minnaert Center for the Arts

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Let's see: Pajamas? Check. Red silk robe? Check. Pipe? Check. A scantily-clad 18-year-old blonde bimbo on each arm? Check and check! Looks like I'm ready to see Black Box Theatre's production of Playboy of the Western World, the stage show about Hugh Hefner's life, loves and - wait. What's that, you say? This play isn't about Hef? There won't be any glimpses of his grotto or the Bunnies? Turns out this Playboy is a satirical look at Catholicism and Irish peasantry, and the "playboy" in question is actually a character named Christy Mahon who, true to the early-20th century meaning of the word, is a trickster or hoaxer. In other words, he knows how to spin a good yarn. Like the especially convincing one about the murder of his Da ... which is totally ruined when the man himself appears. Oh, dad! The original 1907 production supposedly caused a riot in Dublin when it was first performed, but don't expect the same reaction tonight. Unless the blonde bimbos get bored and decide to have a pillow fight whilst simultaneously listing their turn-ons and turn-offs for the assemblage. Hef would be so proud.

PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, 8 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, through March 9, Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Black Box Theatre, South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia, $13-$15, 360.753.8585

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