Do you want to see the busiest bed in Broward County?  Then come see Unidentified Human Remains.  This is a story of love, lust, pain, punishment, exploration, experimentation, and redemption.   

There are two parts to the name of this play, there’s Unidentified Human Remains and then you have The True Nature of Love, and you, the audience member, have to figure out which one the story is about.  The Sol Theatre has once again picked a controversial, fast-paced, deeply involved, completely followable play that is not only interesting, titillating, and funny—but is packed with a ton of raw emotion that you forget that they are actors.   

There are seven characters, both David (Dominick Giombetti) and Candy (Julia Clearwood) are roommates and Bernie (Mathew Chapman) plays the hopeless shirt-and-tie skirt chasing, Scotch swilling pig that David is in love with yet Candy detests.  As the story goes, David works at a restaurant and falls for a cute young Busboy, Kane (Jeison Tomi) and he wants to know everything about him and takes him to his friend who’s semi-psychic and a playful Dominatrix Benita (Erynn Dalton) that can read minds while Candy ends up getting progressively pursued by Jerri (Kim Ehly) and then also meets up with a bartender Robert (Angel Perez) and almost has a mental breakdown over her own sexuality.  Through the storyline, you come to know these people, feel their yearning, and know their pain.   

This probably would not the play to take your Mother to, but one for your best friend.  Out of the seven cast members, only one you do not see at least semi-naked in some sort of sexual act, getting undressed, or about to do something sexual.  This is a sexually charged play with plenty of eye candy for all—gay, straight, or bisexual.  Lust would be the Cardinal Sin that is abused the most, with lines like, Do you wanna f*#k me?  This soft romantic thing doesn’t work for me.  By the second act of the play, lust has moved to Desire, with several of the characters are yearning for someone else, hoping that they will make them whole and complete, and screaming CALL ME!!! The others not affected dismiss their feelings and chose other avenues.  Those who are afraid of graphic language, be forewarned, they are blunt, honest, and tell it like it is. 

Do not think this is a tale about Hedonism or anything; they all end up knowing each other by the end.  This is also not all about sex, flesh, or dirty language.  There are several tender moments that will melt your heart, some that reminded me of my past, and left me wishing for more.  There was a tender moment when Bernie, drunk as usual, spends the night with David and, even though he claims to be straight, ends up snuggling with him.  There are also the passionate “at all costs” kisses between Jerry and Candy that makes you wish they could be together.  And finally, there is the intimate, almost Mother-ish cuddling between David and Benita that you know happens in real life.   

Oh, did I forget to mention that there is a Serial Killer on the loose in their city?  Over the course of a couple of weeks, several girls, waitresses, secretaries, salon workers all end up murdered—coincidentally, one of the cast members ends up Blacking Out and is constantly “just getting out of a fight.”  What makes these horrible tragedies enlightening is the fact that Benita has some sick/twisted fascination with Murder Stores, telling these outlandish-but possible Urban Legends at key moments within the entire play.  The play literally opens with her telling the tale of The Headless Prom Date where a couple ran out of gas and the guy went for gas only to end up strung up above the car and the taping she heard all night was his blood hitting the roof.  She later tells the tale of the overnight babysitter and the Saint Bernard and that it is just as easy to pat a man on the head.  She weaves these and a couple more into the play and through expert storytelling makes you almost believe them—because it happened to a friend of her mothers.  Benita also comes face-to-face and mind-to-mind with the killer and is strong enough mentally to survive and act like a ferocious cat with a wounded prey.   

This story would not be complete without the Candy-Robert-Jerri Love Triangle and all three corners.  In the middle is Candy, a partial Obsessive Compulsive with cleaning and weight issues—things she can control.  See she has had some tragedies in her life that were beyond them, and she has definite control problems.  Not looking for love and while at the gym, bubbly and eager Jerri approaches the unsuspecting Candy and strikes up a semi-friendship and is blunt about her feelings for her.  With nothing better going on in her life and seeing the parade of trysts and rendezvous her roommate David has been on, she decides to indulge Jerri with a date.  Later, still very confused, she then decides to go out with Robert, the hot Latin bartender, only to end up with huge headaches and be left standing alone.  

The Sol Theatre is an amazing venue within the heart of Fort Lauderdale, with about 44 seats; this is one of the quaintest, most down-home venues in the area.  My thanks go out to the entire cast and crew, especially Robert Hooker who is always gracious enough to spare me a seat for every performance.  It was amazing to me that the performance that I saw was a Preview and not one at the end of it’s run, for every cue was hit, every light was timed perfectly, and every leading line was done with ease. I think that every theatregoer should see this performance and then turn around and tell four people.  Just remember one thing, this play is definitely an adventure bigger than TV, and will leave you laughing at lines like I don’t do heroin! and What did you do last night?