Inspector Sands: Hysteria & If That's All There Is

Tickets and Information

Inspired by the Leiber & Stoller pop tune made famous by Peggy Lee, If That's All There Is, now at 59E59 Theaters, is a 65-minute off-beat exploration into the search for meaning in a relationship that still takes considerably longer than Miss Lee did to literally make her very same point. Created by Inspector Sands -- and running in repertory with that same company's Hysteria (with the same actors) -- this show is as engaging as it is purposefully obtuse.

The play begins during the wedding of Daniel (Ben Lewis) and Frances (Lucinka Eisler). As the lights go on, Daniel is giving a speech to their wedding guests that comically reveals him to be both a control freak and a bit of a bore. Watc[...]

The biggest mistake anyone can make about Hysteria, now playing in repertory at 59E59 Theatres, is trying to make any sense of it whatsoever. The best approach here is to go along for the ride. Even at that, some potential riders will find the 55-minute journey too bumpy, while others will get more kicks than jolts from the bizarre experience.



Here's some of what unfolds along the way to tempered madness. Immediately following the background tape of a woman laughing uncontrollably as she tries to tell a story involving a banana, an androgynous person (Lucinka Eisler) mimes brushing his/her teeth and then counting them. He/she eventually locates a missing tooth at the back of his[...]