Public Espionage

Although Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble hails from the tiny metropolis of Louisville, their current Fringe offering feels a lot like the sort of show that populates Chicago's smaller stages — a comedy-style revue that centers around an absurd but easily ingested premise that spins ridiculously out of control. For this outing, it's a school for spies.

The humor starts even before the show, as an actor dressed as a ninja shadows the Festival representative while he thanks the sponsors and delivers the obligatory announcements. From there, several actors planted in the audience reveal themselves as agents and take the stage, ordering a new recruit, “Agent X” (Abigail Bailey Maupin), into the training arena, which is really no more than a card table, a few folding chairs and odd assemblage of props.

Maupin plays the newbie agent as an inquisitive pixie who temporarily surrenders herself (but not her identity) to the ludicrous abuse heaped upon her by the outlandish faculty running the academy. Her mentors (or tormentors) include a Russian operative (Gregory Maupin), whose accent and pride are equally dense; the already revealed ninja (Kyle Ware), whose real name is Bugle and claims to be from a renegade Dutch detachment that is not officially recognized but sufficiently trained; a disguise consultant (Kristie Rolape) who is equal parts fascist and fashionista; and Tony Dingman and Heather Burns, who play Chase and Kitty, the pretentious head counselors of this sophomoric spy camp.

The Le Petomaniacs know enough not to make blunt declarations of every joke but allow the audience put the pieces together for themselves, such as the lesson on how to tap a phone call a la Savion Glover. It also helps that Le Petomane is an established troupe: The performers know the rhythm and limits of their fellow players, giving the anarchy of the scenes an underlying cohesion.

Most of the bits are intentionally loopy, like the “Sneaky Stealthy Song,” performed by Bugle, which opens with the line “When I think of stealthy sneak, I always think of me.” Or when Agent X asks for real meaning of spying, and her Russian instructor steps forward into a spotlight and recites from the scriptures, like Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Le Petomane acclaims itself as a physical comedy troupe, and there are some witty visuals that make the most of the show’s spare resources. The best of these demonstrates how to flood a room with water using a single strand of rope, in addition to the high-speed water ski chase that follows.

Le Petomane and Cincinnati’s Performance Gallery (Girlfight) developed their Fringe programs in tandem, vowing to incorporate a list of 10 common items into each of their shows. I’ve seen both programs and discovered five. Maybe with a little more time at spy school I would have found more. Grade: B

— Nicholas Korn