Super Glossy
Warehouse Arts Next Door – 1021 7th Street NW

Remaining Performances:
Friday, July 27, Midnight
Saturday, July 28, 9 pm

She says: “Cosmopolitan meets The Stepford Wives meets The Venture Bros in this sci-fi satire on women’s magazines. Courtney McLean is dorky and single everywoman Jane Fuller, who reluctantly caves to society’s pressures after *$@%ing a Hollywood heartthrob and unwittingly becomes a pawn in the plot to brainwash the women of Earth!”

Trey’s take: Solo performer Courtney McLean was one of the brighter (and noisier) spots at last year’s inaugural CapFringe, so I wanted to check out her new show; the very idea of a sci-fi sendup of the women’s-mag racket seemed to offer a wealth of possibilities, and God knows McLean (who’s somehow both dorky and sexy, and I say this as a confirmed Kinsey 5.8) has the attitude to sell it.

And for a while, it works nicely: The observations about glossy-mag brainwashing bite with a satisfying sharpness, the one-liners land with an agreeable thwack, and Courtney’s still got a bit of a potty mouth. If the mysterious subplot — it’s to do with ensuring an heir for a scary magazine queen and her empire — isn’t quite rivetingly suspenseful, and if it eventually takes over at the expense of the feminist wise-assery, it does at least pay off with a snappy little finish.

See if it:  You’ve ever gone hoarse railing at your copy of Glamour — then did what it told you to anyway.

Skip it if: You wouldn’t dream of going on a date without consulting Cosmo‘s sex tip of the week.