REVIEW: 2 Sugars, Room for Cream

Last evening, I was invited to attend the opening of 2 Sugars, Room for Cream at The New Century Theatre in downtown Minneapolis.  This show has been performed in the Twin Cities since 2009, where it debuted as a Fringe Festival hit.  It clearly has staying power.  The lead actresses, Shanan Custer and Carolyn Pool, are a Brave New Workshop veteran and an Ivy Award winner, respectively, so I had high expectations.  There’s not a lot out there in terms of descriptions of the show, other than “it’s good!” and focuses somewhat on coffee.  After seeing the show, I now understand why it’s so difficult to describe.  The show is a bunch of short vignettes or monologues, all tied together with coffee and stereotypical women’s antics.  While the show returns to some of the bits over time, there is little else that makes the show cohesive–not that it matters.  Shanan Custer and Carolyn Pool are a compelling presence and as genuine as can be.  Their comic timing is impeccable and it’s hard to believe they are anyone other than the characters they are portraying in each skit, especially with about two seconds of character development.  It was some of the best acting I’ve seen in a long while.  In between the skits are a few musical numbers.  They weren’t bad, but the show didn’t need them.  In some ways, this is a show about “nothing,” in that it’s not really about any one thing in particular.  I hesitate to say that, though, because, as Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm have proved, “nothing” can be quite entertaining.  2 Sugars, Room for Cream allows the audience to eavesdrop on the everyday drama and hilarity of being a woman in America.  You get to listen in on those ladies in the coffee shop, that table next to you at a restaurant, the break room gossip and more.  And, just in case you’re wondering whether it’s only funny to women, the humor is universal.  My husband thought the show was worth it just for the subway scene.  I, for one, got a good laugh out of this show and I think you will, too.

2 Sugars, Room for Cream plays through November 11, 2012.  Tickets are regularly $25

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