Will Connolly stars as Brad, the alienated stepbrother of a young woman who possesses vagina dentata, in Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs’s new musical Teeth.
Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs’s new musical Teeth has bite. Adapted from Mitchell Lichtenstein’s 2007 cult horror-comedy film of the same name and directed by Sarah Benson, Teeth is a tongue-in-cheek look at sex, shame, religious repression, and more. The story revolves around a devout evangelical teen named Dawn who discovers she has a secret weapon: vagina dentata (Latin for “toothed vagina”), which swings into action when she is sexually threatened.
Steven Pasquale plays the fanatical Pastor in Teeth.
Dawn (Alyse Alan Louis, although Helen J Shen went on for her when I attended) is the stepdaughter of the Pastor (Steven Pasquale) of the New Testament Village Church, and leader of the Promise Keeper Girls, a conservative teen group whose members have pledged themselves to purity. Dawn’s stepbrother Brad (Will Connolly), the rebellious teenage son of the pastor, becomes the first victim of her gynecological mutation at the tender age of 6. Although he lost the tip of his finger, the Pastor didn’t believe his story about Dawn’s snapping privates and scolded him for touching them. Now, years later, Brad recounts the episode to his online male support group, called Truthseekers:
Yeah, when I was like 6 or 7 and she was a year younger. We were just messing around in a kiddie pool that pastor and Dawn’s mother Kim had put out for us. And Dawn dared me to take my swimsuit down and I dared her to take hers down so we both took our swimsuits down and were, you know, naked so then Dawn asked me if she could touch mine and I was scared to let her touch mine down there, so I told her she had to let me touch hers down there first . . . but when I did—
Beyond the dark comedy that surfaces in the story, Teeth satirizes Bible-thumping religious leaders. The drama truly ratchets up, however, when the Pastor shifts his focus from Eve to confront the elephant in the room. To this end, he asks one of the Promise Keeper Girls, Keke (performed by another understudy, Madison McBride), to not only name the elephant for the congregation but the reason for her elephantine condition. And she does: “Amy Sue Pearson! … Because Amy Sue got herself pregnant!”
“The musical reveals the horror of ideologies that repress people’s humanity. ”
Whether Teeth is a cautionary tale against promiscuity or a poke in the ribs about uncontrollable urges, the musical reveals the horror of ideologies that repress people’s humanity. The Pastor’s preaching the gospel with an iron fist seems more about his desire to control his congregation’s lives than bringing them closer to God.
Adam Rigg’s protean set goes through multiple permutations as the action progresses. But its most memorable transmogrification is when it becomes a kind of hellscape, a visual manifestation of the crimson rage rising in Dawn after Ryan’s secret filming of their love-making. Or, as the Promise Keeper Girls chant in the tradition of a Greek chorus:
Keke: Then she gave birth to crimson rage.
Becky: And thorns emerged and gave her new worth.
Stephanie: She tore apart the bars of her man-made cage.
Trisha: And hell unleashed upon the earth.
Teeth goes for the jugular every time sex arises. Consequently, this show is not for delicate souls who might be offended by the weird and funny names given to a vagina, not to mention glimpsing a few male members flashing around the stage.
Jared Loftin plays Ryan and Alyse Alan Louis is Dawn in Teeth, a stage adaptation of the 2007 cult classic film of the same name. Photographs by Chelcie Parry.
In spite of that, Jackson and Jacobs have created fully realized characters. Even when things get wild and woolly, one isn’t likely to laugh at them, though one might guffaw at the bizarre scenarios they are trapped in. Whether it’s the pregnant young woman Amy Sue (offstage for the entire show), the conflicted gay teen Ryan (Jared Loftin), or the protagonist Dawn, all come across as human beings, albeit flawed ones. Of course, the excellent acting of the entire cast is a plus as well.
The songs, 17 in all, have a contemporary Christian vibe. While audience members might not go out humming any of the show’s melodies, Jackson’s witty lyrics smoothly synch with Jacobs’s compositions. What’s more, each musical number effectively propels the story forward, as in its opening chorus song, “Precious Gift,” or a romantic duet between Dawn and Tobey (Jason Gotay), “Modest Is Hottest.”
This screen-to-stage adaptation of Teeth does go way over-the-top in its final scenes, with the Promise Keeper Girls acting like maenads from The Bacchae. But then again, Jackson, who won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical for A Strange Loop, is an artist who makes bold choices. Move over, Euripides.
The production of the musical Teeth runs through April 28 at Playwrights Horizons (416 W 42nd St.). Evening performances are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit playwrightshorizons.org.
Book: Michael R. Jackson & Anna K. Jacobs
Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson
Music: Anna K. Jacobs
Direction: Sarah Benson
Choreography: Raja Feather Kelly
Scenic Design: Adam Rigg
Costume Design: Enver Chakartash
Lighting Design: Jane Cox & Stacey Derosier
Sound Design: Palmer Hefferan
