The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Sauna Boy
By Dennis W.
Unemployed wide-eyed actor, Dan is just trying to pay his bills when a job search leads him to one of London’s premiere men’s bathhouses. He applies for a cleaner job thinking that, if he gets it, he will stay, just for a little while, until he gets his next acting job. Dan barely arrives into the space before he is swept up into the sex world of the sauna, becoming ‘Danny-boy’, the name given to him by the sauna’s owner whom everyone likes to call ‘Mother’.
Sauna Boy, cleverly written by Dan Ireland-Reeves (Off-Broadway’s Bleach), plays Danny-boy in this semi-autobiographical one-man show. We meet the wide-eyed Dan as he arrives innocently enough to apply for the lowest job in the bathhouse, the cleaner, but what he’s really signing up for is a yearlong education about sex, life, and friendship. The bathhouse is gearing up to celebrate its 21st anniversary, and along the way, we meet the sauna employees and some clients. On day one, Danny-boy gets the grand tour of the wet rooms, dry rooms, dark rooms, and lounge, plus a list of the sacred rules: do a good job, listen to Mother, and it’s okay to join in with the clients if invited. All this sounds alright to the newly named Danny-boy who thinks it a good deal. But before he knows it, to his surprise, he becomes the manager. And right away, he sets up three goals for himself: to update the website into the 21st century, get a liquor license, and sell out all 80 lockers.
Ireland-Reeves’ fresh-faced look and beguiling delivery ease us into even the most taboo bathhouse topics, and the audience happily goes along for the ride. Accepting and embracing Danny-boy’s wide-eyed experiences, he sails us through some wild times mopping up used condoms, learning about the viscosity of lubricants, and walking in on goings-on that even he finds shocking. Ireland-Reeves’ best moments are his interactions with his new friends; Marco, Andrea, Chase, Chardonnay, and of course, Mother. His sharp and on-point imitations of the characters make them memorable and leave the audience wanting more.
Sauna Boy is enhanced by the setting at the Laurie Beecham Theater downstairs at the West Bank Cafe in Hell’s Kitchen. The cabaret-style room down a log staircase with its dark walls adds to the illusion of the London bathhouse especially when he takes out his flashlight to see what’s going on or heads into the audience as if he’s moving around the rooms. The well-executed lighting also works to give defined spaces on the barely naked stage, taking the action to one place or another in the maze of the bathhouse. The lighting also stands out during Danny-boy’s “Flash Dance” striptease-sex scene with Ash, a hunky client.
The well-written Sauna Boy weaves a tale of a young man’s life journey that leads him and us to the hidden world of a gay bathhouse where strangers meet and where Dan has found a connection with his coworkers and clients. This somewhat naive boy has taken a job that appears to be just one of a string of jobs as he works on his acting career, but one that has opened his eyes and ours. Ultimately, we wonder. Will Danny-boy ever find a comfortable life in the sauna with his new company of friends? Or will this just be a stepping stone in life, as he moves on to the next job, all the while searching for that elusive next acting job? Or maybe, he’s found the most delicious way of having it all.