Fornication can be hilarious. At least it is in "The Man Who Ate Michael Rockefeller," Jeff Cohen's new play based on Christopher Stokes' short story of the same name, which in turn is based on speculation about the fate of billionaire Nelson Rockefeller's son. In 1961, the young man ventured into the jungles of Papua, New Guinea, only to disappear forever. Told from the point of view of the Asmat natives, the short evening (55 minutes) is more a combination of dance and narration than a dramatic work that develops characters. Its origins as a short story are reinforced by having so much told to us by a character known as Designing Man.
The young, Harvard-educated Rockefeller wanted to start an archaeological museum featuring the Designing Man's superb carvings, which in Asmat culture aped the creation of the world by the Master Carver. What he didn't know about was the rivalry between Designing Man and his blood brother, Half Moon Terror, over who would succeed the colony's governor, whose sudden death was blamed somehow on Rockefeller. That led to a conflict with all-powerful ancestors, because the tribe believed the death created an imbalance between the Asmat and Rockefeller tribes that had to be avenged.
Balance and harmony are at the heart of the evening. Beset by missionaries and torn between the Dutch and Indonesians, who want to control them, the Asmat represent any culture in the process of being destroyed by supposedly more "civilized" societies. It's not a new idea, of course. But here it's a side issue that comes across more by innuendo than direct confrontation. These are people who believe "nobody owns more than the eye can take in at a glance."
The sex scene comes in when Half Moon Terror's wife, the pregnant Plentiful Bliss, and Designing Man's wife, Breezy, are exchanged between the two men. Designing Man must now "shape" Bliss' fetus with his "shaping tool," which he does, often and with pounding vigor, while Bliss chatters on and on and on. "You want to talk about that now?" asks the exasperated Designing Man, played with fierce charm by Daniel Morgan Shelley, who makes the character at once sympathetic and confused.
Tracy Jack, who also did the tempestuous choreography, is giddy as chatterbox Bliss, while David King is a devious Half Moon Terror, and Shannon A.L. Dorsey, as Breezy, cleverly satirizes vain women, no matter their culture. Director Alfred Preisser keeps up a furious pace, but ultimately the play stays too much within the confines of a narrative short story.
Presented by Dog Run Rep at the West End Theatre, 263 W. 86th St., NYC. Sept. 12–Oct. 3. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m. (No performance Fri., Sept. 17; additional performance Mon., Sept. 20, 8 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 3, performance is at 5 p.m.) (212) 868-444 or www.smarttix.com.