The Adventures of Pussy Jones
Directed and Written by Gab Cody
A.R.T./New York Theatres | 502 W 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
June 17th - June 18th
I have no idea what I saw last night, but I liked it! When you see something described as a DaDa cabaret, you should be prepared to not have any clue what’s going on. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
What would result if AI wrote a play? Well, this is the result of a playwright imagining AI’s writing skills. The Professor is Donald Sutherland meets Dr. Emmett Brown engagingly played by Sam Turich. His eager assistant, energetically portrayed by Saige Smith wows the audience with her pipes. When the system is told to create on the theme “The Politics of Femininity" it brings Pamela Beryl Digby Churchill Heyward Harriman to life. The daughter-in-law of Winston who may have doubled as a spy and became the US Ambassador to France under Clinton brilliantly play by Tami Dixon as the hostess with the mostess! (Costumer Kate Bagin deserves an award just for Harriman’s outfit!) And if AI wasn’t wacky enough, it decides that James Baldwin (Mel Holley), Harper Lee (Laurie Klatscher) and Truman Capote (Michael Fuller) are necessary to the plot – oh, and cheetahs. Lots of cheetahs.
This team assembled by Pittsburgh’s finest makes me believe we should all make a roadtrip to see more of their work! The crew of this production who doubled as foley artists, light ops and maybe a cheetah or two help to bring the madness to a boil. And the boil in this case is a Monkees / Scooby-Doo style romp! What’s not to love!?! Everything about this show is unexpected. I would hear myself laughing and not know exactly the trigger. It is completely disarming.
This workshop performance has a limited run, but I’m sure it will not be the end of the road for this piece. The warm reception it received in this festival will hopefully spur further development and more mad genius. I can’t imagine what this looked like on the page, but it is the exciting ingenuity the stage needs.
The Women in Theater Festival seeks to broaden the opportunities for women in the entertainment industry by producing new work by women with at least 50% female representation of all artists involved. Our festival is a model of going beyond parity, as we commission and produce new works by women+ writers, devisers, and creators, develop an audience interested in feminist theatre, and foster opportunities that center interdisciplinary practices and experimentation.
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on June 19th, 2025. All rights reserved.