The Fireworxxx players are amateurs when it comes to high art.
Trouble arises when a group of second-rate porn stars decide to create an artistic film with dialogue, so they recruit a Yale graduate to help them with a script.
Theater group Icarus Falling's "Adult Entertainment" gives audiences bang for their buck starting tonight.
"To start out with, you're meeting almost the stereotype you'd expect of the porn industry," director Jeff Croff said.
The scriptwriter gives the porn stars reading assignments like "Our Town," William Butler Yeats and Dylan Thomas. The stud, Jimbo J, becomes obsessed with "Our Town."
"It pokes fun at the pretentiousness of art ? In this case, they skewer art and everything in between," Jeff Croff said.
Laura Croff plays Heidi the Ho who has a cable access TV show where she interviews other porn stars. It was her idea to get her cameraman, the Yale graduate, to help them make a film.
"It's interesting to see the viewpoint of pornography through these characters' eyes as it's just a business — it's just what they do," she said.
Laura Croff said she also likes how the play explores what people term literature and art and what people term smut.
"I think we all have that moment of looking at great art, literature and paintings and saying 'I don't get it; does it make me stupid?'" Laura Croff said.
Jeff Croff said the dialogue and the characters are sincere. For instance, Jimbo J starts giving people money whenever possible after learning a lesson about generosity from "Our Town."
"I think they become focused on who each other is, as opposed to the whole industry," Jeff Croff said. "It doesn't necessarily beat you over the head with these are real people — you get the glance from here and there."
There is no nudity in the show, but there are tiger-print G-strings and risqué language.
Robin Harris plays Jimbo J, who has been in the porn industry for a year and made more than 100 movies.
"I never thought I'd be playing a porn star," Harris said. "I also really like this character because, aside from the adult industry lifestyle and his various addictions, he's really a very down-to-earth guy, which makes him really easy to get a handle on as an actor."
He added that acting with a group of people who have been with Icarus Falling for a long time has made him feel comfortable.
"Otherwise I wouldn't have been standing in the middle of the room wearing a thong," he said.
"We've all got a similar sense of humor, and we've all got little or no boundaries. Literally at least every once every 20 minutes one of us will say something outrageous."
Adult Entertainment plays at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and April 1 at Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St. in Lansing. There is a midnight showing on March 31. Tickets are $10 at the door. "Icarus Falling Virgins" receive half-price admission.
"The Best Seats in the House" are also available for an extra $20. They're cushioned seats for the show that include beverages and snacks.
