Is there really such a thing as “sex addiction”?

Does having one intimate experience with someone of the same sex make someone a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

And, most importantly: How much should a screenwriter twist and turn to keep his or her screenplay “acceptable” and “unoffensive” to the masses, while still keeping the original creative vision intact?

These and other questions are asked throughout Matt Morillo’s bold, smart, and very timely comedy All American Sex Addict/Woke AF, presented by Randomly Specific Theatre.  The central character of this titillatingly titled story is Jack Richards (Peter Buck Dettmann), a former NYPD officer who is now an aspiring screenwriter and liberal activist.  The first time we meet Jack is via a talk show on the fictional network “C-SPOT”, where the cocksure SJW (social justice warrior) is speaking up for transgender rights in a heated debate against a card-carrying transphobe named Carlton Charles (Isaac Moran).  And, as if that wasn’t enough, Jack is also the play’s titular “sex addict”.  Ostensibly the “objet de désir” of many women and at least one man, the audience soon learns that no one loves Jack Richards more than… well, Jack Richards. Put another way: The audience unanimously agrees when Jack’s friend and occasional lover Jose (Mateo Parodi) tells the fledgling filmmaker, “Damn!  You are a narcissist!” within the play’s first 10 minutes.

But back to that aforementioned screenplay.  Jack is eager for the powers that be to greenlight his quasi-autobiographical film, tentatively named All American Sex Addict/Hero Cop.  He’s also hoping to get such big-name actors as “Bradley Fontana” (!) to star in it.  In addition to picking the brain of Jose, who is Latino (Never say “Latinx”!), he also looks to his long-suffering neighbor Andie (Danielle Aziza), a biracial woman, for advice on keeping the screenplay free from anything offensive to women, racial and/or ethnic minorities, LGBTQ’s, etc.  Along the way, Jack faces challenges for seemingly EVERYTHING in his script– from the issue of full-frontal nudity, to the perceived stereotyping of ethnic minorities, to the representation of women, to the characters who are based (a little too obviously) on the real-life people in his life.  Even a Billy Joel joke becomes a major issue. Things become even more complicated when Jack’s occasional lover Ashley (Shelby Allison Brown) stops by in for a visit.  Ashley is hardly timid about her opinions.  Armed with a seemingly endless stream of such oh-so-timely talking points as “the male gaze”, “whitesplaining”, and “cultural appropriation”, she is the kind of character who can command Jack to “Change out of that racist outfit and put something ethnically appropriate on!” with conviction.  At this point of the play, both Jack and the audience knows that All American Sex Addict/Hero Cop has a L-O-N-G (As long as Michael Fassbender’s oft-mentioned penis) way to go before it becomes completely “safe” for absolutely everyone.  But is that even possible? Before you can say “Wiig’s wig” (ahem…), we are introduced to a fifth character, Riley (Alex Mayer), a performance artist and (altogether now…) occasional lover of Jack’s.  What happens when the equally strong-willed and super-progressive Ashley and Riley meet up again– and one of them has a long-sharpening axe to grind with the other?  Let’s just say that these two put the “WAR” in “social justice warriors”.  Even for the leftiest of lefties, the so-called “wokeness” of some of the characters in Morillo’s play gets to be exhausting; it’s almost as if the wokeness itself is the unseen but omnipresent sixth character of the play, weighing in from behind the curtains.  Will the cameras ever start rolling for Jack’s movie? And… will we ever get to hear that Billy Joel joke?   

Directed by Phoebe Leonard-Dettmann, All-American Sex Addict/Woke AF packs a lot of brain candy into its lively 80-minute running time, including but not limited to the oft-debated subjects of preferred pronouns, representation of women and minorities in the media, cancel culture, female exploitation versus empowerment, internet “mob mentality”, white privilege, and actual versus performative activism.  But despite all the very “2024” issues which the play explores, this is hardly a dry socio-political debate between five talking heads on the fictional C-SPOT network.  It’s fast paced and often laugh-out-loud funny, with a seemingly infinite number of priceless one-liners and keen cultural references. The dialogue doesn’t shy away from controversial issues, nor do several of the actors shy away from the unapologetically welcome nudity, which is so essential to the piece.  The five actors work perfectly well together in this ensemble cast. As the lead character Jack Richards, Peter Buck Dettmann is perfectly cast as the manic ex-cop, strutting a fine line between charismatic and off-putting.  Shelby Allison Brown’s Ashley rivals Dettmann’s Jack; their combined intensity is the equivalent of a pair of pile drivers.  (The duo’s lengthy conversation about nudity in the movies is a perfect example.) Mateo Parodi as Jose and Danielle Aziza as Andie are perfectly charming as the voices of reason in this zany story…  yet they also get to steal some genuinely humorous moments as well.  Rounding out the cast is Alex Mayer as the magnetic Riley. Much talk in the play is about Riley’s mysterious interpretive dance.  Thankfully, after much tease, the audience gets to see it… and it’s a scorcher.   And yes, we do finally get to hear that Billy Joel joke…

Randomly Specific Theatre’s All American Sex Addict/Woke AF continues through Sunday, April 14th at American Theatre of Actors, 314 W. 54th St, New York City.  Visit All American Sex Addict / Woke AF – American Theatre of Actors for tickets and more info.  

Photos by Jonathan Slaff.