by AMY BARRATT

It washed over them like a wave, driving them inexorably on until they couldn’t have stopped themselves even if they’d wanted to.

At least, that’s how I imagine the original cast and some newcomers being swept up in the production that is Sex and la Cité, Part Deux. It’s summer in Montreal, the Fringe has just ended, and Dum Blond Productions is just doing what comes naturally. They did it for a few nights last week at le Belmont on the Main, and they’ll be doing it again at the Comedy Nest during the Just for Laughs festival.

Christine Ghawi was born to impersonate Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw. The same, really, is true of Alexandra Valassis (Samantha), Anne McMaster (Miranda) and Paula Davis (Charlotte). Each bears enough of a resemblance to her Sex and the City counterpart to be instantly identifiable, and more importantly, they have the TV actresses’ mannerisms down cold.

At this point it is necessary to state that if you have never watched Sex and the City, there is little for you in this spoof, which relocates the show’s characters from New York to Montreal. It doesn’t pretend to be anything more than a big in-joke for fans, especially those for whom watching these self-involved, shoe-obsessed Manhattanites on a weekly basis was a pleasure of the guilty variety. The actors/mimics in this show obviously love the raw material of Sex and the City, but that’s no reason not to mock it mercilessly.

In Part Deux, Carrie is getting the jitters about her impending marriage to Big; Charlotte is pregnant and won’t let anyone forget it; Samantha is frantically working her PR magic to resuscitate Smith’s career, and Miranda discovers a way to kickstart her flagging sex life with Steve.

The morning after seeing the show, I was sitting in front of my keyboard in my skivvies having a bit of an identity crisis: I knew I didn’t want to become one of those theatre critics who only likes incomprehensible multimedia plays with naked actors writhing and wailing in Lithuanian, but would my readers still respect me if I admitted to liking a piece of fluff like Sex and la Cité? Would I be called into the editor’s office and chastised for not covering more serious, arty fare? Or (more likely) congratulated for embracing a racier, more babe-a-licious aesthetic? Would both of my faithful readers accuse me of selling out? Was there something so wrong with liking a show that wasn’t trying to be anything more than what it was: a fun night out for the girls in the office? I was getting confused.

I decided to call Paula Davis, one of the actors in the show as well as the director and co-writer. Surely she would have some insight into the significance of TV programs brought to the stage…

“I think people get that we’re trying to spoof something,” says Davis, “and they really like the Montreal flavour. Just mentioning Kahnawake makes people perk up.”

Exactly.

Sex and la Cité plays the Comedy Nest (AMC Forum, 932-6378) July 12–13, 8:30 p.m., and july 14–15 at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.

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