A disgruntled ex gets back at his onetime bed partner in the most publicly demeaning of ways by posting online the nude selfies she’d sent him years earlier in Carla Ching’s Revenge Porn or The Story of a Body, the thrillingly hot-button latest from Ammunition Theatre Company.

An electrifying Tina Huang stars as recently divorced theater director Kat Chan, whose plans tonight include hosting a congratulatory dinner for her college-graduating daughter Nice (Kahyun Kim), one at which Kat’s considerably younger new boyfriend Elliot (Christopher Larkin) and her now former husband Mac (Nelson Lee) will be coming face to face for the very first time.

Not exactly the recipe for an evening of family fun and celebration, but at least Nice’s boyfriend JJ (Roland Ruiz) and Kat’s mother Betty (Jeanne Sakata) will be on hand to keep the exes from getting at each other’s throats.

Unfortunately for Kat, someone, presumably one of several men she dated back in her still single days, has just posted explicit nude photos of her on numerous social media sites (and made sure along the way to tag Kat’s family and friends).

Though the most obvious suspects would appear to be “5 foot 2” (nude bathroom pix), “the poet” (nudes in a poppy field), and “the lawyer” (heels and some S&M gear), it quickly becomes clear that only one man could have posted these particular revenge-porn nudes.

An angry, jealous, resentful Mac.

Making matters even worse, at least as far as Kat’s boyfriend and daughter are concerned, is Kat’s refusal to retaliate against the man she once loved.

As conversation-provoking as Ching’s play is regarding issues of consent, a woman’s ownership of her body, and the potentially life-destroying consequences of seeing the private made public, what transforms Revenge Porn into much more than just an issues play are the complex, richly developed characters Ching has created, and the impossible-to-pigeonhole relationships that exist between them.

A series of monologs allow these men and women to expose their deepest feelings as conversations between them reveal their most intimate secrets.

There’s also at least one explosive, unexpected confrontation, along with a primer on removing non-consensual pornography from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that’s both amusing and informative, all of which adds up to one humdinger of a World Premiere, written for an almost entirely Asian-American cast of characters by one of our top Asian-American playwrights.

Director Bernardo Cubría elicits one powerful performance after another, most particularly from an on-fire Huang, who digs oceans’ deep into Kat’s many contradictions and complexities. (Why for instance, does she absolutely refuse to take action against her spiteful ex?)

Lee, too, is a force to be reckoned with as a man so twisted by the need for revenge that he’s become blinded to the moral bankruptcy of his actions, and his climactic scene with Huang reveals not only two actors at the top of their craft but playwright Ching’s talent for creating expectation-defying human beings.

Kim’s angry, hurt, conflicted daughter and Ruiz’s stalwartly supportive bff are terrific too, as is Larkin as the man who’s brought Kat back to life after a dying marriage (and gets to be one of the participants in Ahmed Best’s realistic fight choreography).

Last but not least, the always fabulous Sakata creates two night-and-day distinct Asian-American mothers, one of them the tradition-bound Betty and the other Mac’s radical feminist mom Amy.

Amanda Knehan has designed an stylish, gauze curtains-backed set onto which Yuki Izumihara projects images ranging from the abstract to Kat’s take-back-the-narrative photo shoot (though I’m guessing those seated against the upstage wall may find themselves shortchanged in what they are able to see of Izumihara’s work).

Azra King-Abadi’s multifaceted lighting, Mischa Stanton’s just-right sound design (complemented by Arian Saleh’s evocative original music), and Lou Cranch’s character-appropriate costumes are all topnotch.

Revenge Porn or The Story of a Body is produced by Julie Bersani, Karla Mosley, and Brandon Scott. Helton Najera is technical director. Jaclyn Chantél is intimacy coordinator. Erica Smith is makeup artist. Judith Borne is publicist.

Jenny Park is stage manager and Chloe Glassel is assistant stage manager.

In Fast Company, Carla Ching brought to vibrant life a family of New York City grifters. She then turned the tried-and-true romcom on its head in The Two Kids Who Blow Shit Up.

Now, in Revenge Porn or The Story of a Body, she has created her most explosive play to date. Expect to be blown to bits.

The Pico, 10508 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.
www.AmmunitionTheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
September 30, 2022
Photos: Jeff Lorch

Tags: Ammunition Theatre Company, Carla Ching, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Pico