Silly Sapphic Shenanigans (Pandora Productions)
Lipstick
By Lane Michael Stanley
Directed by Mollie Murk
Review by Kate Barry
Entire contents are copyright © 2026 Kate Barry. All rights reserved.
Imagine gaining the nerve to ask your crush for a date. Do they like you? Are they even interested? Throw in a destructive ex, a roommate and their mother and a plumbing problem, chaos ensues. Lipstick is a zany, fun loving romp currently staged by Pandora Productions. This comedy about connection and embracing yourself radiates with absolute joy.
The impressive apartment setting consumes the Henry Clay stage. Feeling like your friend’s apartment, the orange walls are accented with feminist art, Ani diFranco albums and a pair of neon red lips. Director Mollie Murk allows the cast to sink their teeth into the comedic dialogue providing over the top performances that never seem self indulgent or fake. Sex toys and massagers are thrown around, absurd costumes are changed into quickly and door slamming allude to an exact rhythm found in a Neil Simon play. Jokes are fired off with enhanced precision and the physical bits are handled with great choreography. Billed as a farce, the play contains continuous laughs which served greatly to a verbally robust audience on opening night.
Anna’s date at her New York apartment with a girl from her yoga class is the focus of the play. As Anna, Brooke Morrison is comfortable in her skin and proud of who she is yet thwarted with nerves. Morrison brings ample amounts of frustration and flustered angst as her low key dinner plans spin out of control. Worrying if her date is actually a date, Morrison’s Anna hangs on the edge throughout the entire show until she receives a most satisfying resolution to her worries. Anyone who has ever been confused about where they stand with someone’s affection cannot help but root for Morrison’s portrayal of Anna.
As Anna’s date, Tessa McShane plays Kelly with rich obtuseness. McShane gives her performance plenty of awkward turns, never fully giving a, excuse my pun, straight answer. Her personal questioning and want for answers give way for a nice chemistry with Morrison’s Anna. McShane delivers a sweet poignancy in her “I think you’re really cool” speech.
The cast is packed with comedic performers. Lawrence Robertson’s Mal is more than just a side kick as he leans into the desire for a fling with the many matches on his dating app. Zach Stone provides stellar dead pan as Mal’s dates with too many quick changes to count and an endless parade of cowboys, kink enthusiasts, tango dancers and even a Trump support among others. Mal must also keep peace with his rambunctious mother, Anna’s intrusive ex and plumber with terrible timing.
Debra Chandler-Reid’s Dorothy plays Mal’s authoritative mother with a tough love and bite. Robertson and Chandler-Reid keep a chemistry that is honest and open even with Dorothy’s most inconvenient arrival. Ali Gautier’s Cara is on the prowl to rekindle her relationship with Anna. Gautier brings heightened energy to her bride who has left the altar behind. Maniacal and devious, Gautier and Robertson clash and collide as Anna’s date goes unbothered. Rounding out the foolishness, Ryan Lash’s Hank the Landlord is a one track minded halfwit who stumbles in when you least expect it. Lash embraces Hank’s unexpected nature as he creates some of the biggest laughs of the show.
Lipstick at Pandora Productions is packed with laughs. To say Anna’s date quickly goes off the rails would be a radical understatement as a chain of absurd events take place. But by the play’s conclusion, Anna and her date have the most happiest of endings and beginnings.
Lipstick Pandora Productions
November 6-22, 2026 Henry Clay Theatre
604 S 3rd St
Louisville, KY 40202
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