“The Respectful Prostitute” Makes You Feel a Little Dirty – Teresa Leggard, Fringe Reviewer

She&Her Productions revived and adapted Jean-Paul Sartre’s “The Respectful Prostitute,” and the result was a show that hits in the gut and the groin.

All of the actors were so strong they were unnerving—especially watching Lizzy (Jennifer Coville-Schweigert) grapple with moral responsibility while having no material power at all, as Winifred (Cori Weber) revels in a power that comes at the expense of others. Peter Leondedis as The Senator and Stevie Haynes as The Negro provide the polar extremes on this power spectrum. I don’t have to tell you who has it all and who has none.

The show, despite a Tarantino-esque penchant for the N-word, takes a side and has a clear point of view, which makes me wonder: when is it exposure, and when is it exploitation? The production’s position is already so strong, the actors nearly vibrating with their passion to convince, that the multimedia closing was almost overdone.

There’s so much to unpack in The Respectful Prostitute. It’s too bad the 50-minute block doesn’t allow for a talkback.

It was a full house at the Unicorn Theatre’s Jerome Stage, and when the play let out and I made my way to the door, I don’t think anyone made eye contact with me. Granted, I wasn’t looking in anybody’s face either. Maybe we were all just trying to be respectful.