Whether it’s a botched bleach job or a bad bowl cut, there’s no hair disaster that Nikki (writer/performer Joanna Rannelli) can’t repair, as she serves as a receptacle for her client’s most intimate confessions … but just don’t ask her to accept liability if you beg for bangs.
I’m the type of person who gets his hair cut as infrequently as possible at chain salons, and prefer not to chitchat with my stylist, but I thoroughly enjoyed my hour at “Bangs, Bob & Banter” meeting Nikki’s comedic clientele — including a feisty octogenarian, a harried helicopter mom, a cheating housewife, an impatient Karen and a chauvinistic male customer, among others — whose wigs and worldviews Rannelli slips in and out of with empathetic ease.
Rannelli gives each customer their own instantly identifiable voice and physicality, and director/dramaturge Kerry Ipema gives the play fluid pacing and visual variety — despite largely revolving around a hairdressing chair — which was impressively polished for opening night of a world premiere.
We never really get to know Nikki herself much beyond her pet peeves and Barbie memories, and although the script includes a thoughtful interlude with a chemo patient who’s liberated by her celebrity wigs, it only briefly touches on the stylist’s deeper role as unlicensed therapist and aesthetic time-stopper. Perhaps that deeper dive can be saved for a sequel, because Rannelli is a winning performer, and I’ll bet a buzz-cut that Nikki has more tress-tales to tell.
Orlando Fringe Festival: Tickets and times for “Bangs, Bobs & Banter: Confessions of a Hairstylist”
Seth Kubersky
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