‘Bitch’ is a slap and a tickle
D’Arcy Drollinger (left) as Diana and Katya Smirnoff-Skyy as Cassandra engage in some soapy smackdowns in Drollinger’s Bitch Slap! at Oasis. Photo by Gooch
During a recent curtain call for Bitch Slap!, his hilariously dazzling drag ode to ‘80s nighttime soaps, writer/director star D’Arcy Drollinger thanked everyone involved with the production now on stage at his South-of-Market club, Oasis. Then he thanked the ecstatic audience for “letting San Francisco be fucking San Francisco!”
While much of the world’s media blathers on about the demise of San Francisco, those of us still trapped in this “hellscape” are drawn to the things that made us fall in love with this city in the first place. For me, that means the arts and, more specifically, the theater. Within the grand scope of theatrical offerings in the Bay Area, I have big love for a great drag show.
Way before RuPaul made drag one of the coolest things on the planet, San Francisco’s drag community was making entertainment of all shapes and sizes, and now Drollinger, San Francisco’s hard-working and very first drag laureate, is carrying that bedazzled torch into the 21st century.
With his own stage and a Streisandian talent for producing, writing, directing and performing, Drollinger is perfectly poised to be San Francisco’s premiere drag impressario.
Bitch Slap!, which opened Friday night, is Drollinger at peak form. Impeccably produced from the slick video projections and pre-filmed segments to the dazzling ‘80s grandeur of the costumes and wigs – such towering volume in the hair! such aircraft carrier breadth on the shoulder pads! – this show is full of great visual gags, laugh-out-loud jokes and performances that expertly layer camp, nostalgia and solid comic chops.
Drollinger plays Diana Midnight, a Joan Collins-esque titan and former supermodel who, along with her husband R.J. (the voluble and hilarious Michael Phillis), rules the world’s supply of shoulder pads. Her arch enemy is R.J.’s ex-wife, Cassandra (Katya Smirnoff-Skyy), whose aim is to topple Diana from her lofty perch. The evening’s first of many (many, many, many) bitch slaps – complete with the always-funny sound effect – come with a smackdown between Diana and Cassandra that ends up with the latter almost nude but pridefully pulling a ripped-off sleeve over her shoulder as she tries to make a dignified exit.
Jef Valentine (left) is Karen, Matthew Martin (center) is Beverly and Drollinger is Diana in the sudsy, soapy Bitch Slap! Photo by Gooch
Diana’s mother, Beverly (the ever-delightful Matthew Martin, who never met a line he couldn’t finesse in some marvelous way), has been starring on a soap opera forever and isn’t above nefarious schemes to grab her own piece of Diana’s empire. Any excuse to bring Martin on stage to ask what’s going on here is employed, and there’s an Act 2 monologue consisting primarily of soap opera titles that, in Martin’s hands, is sheer comedy heaven.
Also complicating Diana’s world is an adopted daughter (LOL McFiercen) still using a wheelchair after a tragic modeling accident, an old alcohol-addled school chum (Jef Valentine) who mysteriously shows up just aching to reveal old secrets and that sinking feeling that husband R.J. is having an affair.
When tragedy takes the story to the local hospital, we meet handsome doctor Logan played by Samuel Prince, who also shows up later as a lusty walnut former, when a struggling Diana finds work as a nutcracker. Prince has that rare quality of providing beefcake and a deft comic turn.
But that’s the thing about a Drollinger show – it may feel loosey-goosey and like unbridled fun, but there’s a whole lot of theatrical expertise going on here to craft that vibe.
The use of video here is the perfect way to amplify the homage to shows like “Dallas,” “Dynasty,” “Falcon Crest,” “Knot’s Landing” and any other over-the-top nighttime drama. There’s even a pitch-perfect bitch-slapdown filmed at the Filoli estate, which is famous for appearing the opening credits of “Dynasty.”
Ruling over it all is Drollinger, a towering stage presence as Diana and a performer who works an audience like nobody’s business. This bitch is back, baby, and her Slap stings in all the best ways.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
D’Arcy Drollinger’s Bitch Slap! continues through May 18 at Oasis, 258 11th St., San Francisco. Tickets are $40-$75. Running time: about 2 hours. Visit sfoasis.com for tickets.
