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Defending the Caveman, Battle of the Sexes Will Never Go Out of Style What a pure psychological funfest.  The only monosyllables here were in the Caveman banter and the terse remarks of Vince Valentine responding to his buddies.  This longest running solo play in Broadway history is filled with psychological nuances and text book truisms turned into hilarity.  There was something for everyone from steel worker to college professor.  From female executive to mother, and grandmother, everyone was laughing.  It’s a tossup as to who laughed harder, the men or the women. Whether you’re in a relationship or know someone in a relationship, Defending the Caveman will have your roaring with laughter and nudging each other affectionately as you recognize yourselves or friends.  There is no topic sacred or untouched as this one-man blitzkrieg tackles contemporary feminism, masculine “sensitivity” and even the erogenous zone!

You just cannot resist being pulled in to the caveman history of the show relegating men to hunters and women to gatherers.  The writer Rob Becker delved into a lot of socio-primitive history books for this one and a few psychological journals also.

Laughter aside, I think a few couples left the theatre with just a little more understanding of each other.  Comedy can be therapeutic and also enlightening and Vince Valentine drew you in with his hilarious facial expressions sometimes expressing real pain and confusion.  Are the comical case studies like men falling asleep after sex trite?  Absolutely! Is there anything new about men going right for what they want in a store, “buying” and women “shopping” falling back on their hunter gatherer, rolls?  Hell no!  But the journey that Rob Becker and Vince Valentine take you on will meander through your whole body, mind, heart and soul if you let it.

A “middle aged” gentleman in front of my guest and I laughed so hard that I thought he might crack a rib.  We watched men pulling their wives a little closer to them and women doubled over in hysterics.  Few in the audience were untouched even by the ending when Vincent sits in his armchair designed like hewn rock to simulate his “man cave” and pontificates about his confusion sometimes and trials in his marriage.  Often during the performance his hat is off to his wife who is a multi talented multi-tasker as most women are.  And Rob Becker does have a tendency to celebrate differences between men and women much in favor of women.  But if the ladies were listening they found a new understanding out of humor for the things that often cause challenges in relationships because men are “not just different but often have much simpler needs and definitely a simpler agenda.”  I know I did which definitely shed some light on both past and current relationships.  Thank you Rob Becker for your insight!  Thank you Vincent Valentine for your often frantic but very deft interpretation and thank you to the Pittsburgh CLO for understanding that the “battle of the sexes” is age old and will never go out of style!

You can see Vincent Valentine in Defending the Caveman at the very intimate Cabaret Theatre through September 8 and John Venable in the same roll from September 11 to October 20.  Don’t miss it if you want a deeper understanding of your male/female relationships or if you just want some deep belly laughs and a rollicking good time. Labels: Comedy at Pittsburgh Cabaret Theatre, Comedy in the Pittsburgh Cultural District, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Cultural Reviews, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Events

