by AMY BARRATT

The double bill courtesy of two indie companies currently playing at the MainLine Theatre could have been titled Yin/Yang. Caitlin Murphy’s Brazen, which was up first the night I went, is for the girls. It is—apologies for the tired phrase—the “coming of age” story of Aimee Dawn, the precocious daughter of a Texan mom and Parisian papa. The other play on the bill, Coil!!!, by Aaron George, is all about the testosterone—terrifyingly so. I’m not sure if these two pieces, presented by 6th Avenue Players and Angry Badger Theatre, respectively, complement each other or cancel each other out.

Murphy is a bright young woman who writes from an unapologetically female perspective and creates meaty roles for women. Because of Murphy’s delight in the English language—shared by the irrepressible Aimee Dawn—this play would be a pleasure even to read. But brought to life by the adorable Christine Ghawi, with ample support from Emma Lanza and Joel Fishbane, it is truly a delight.

Lanza is particularly appealing as young Aimee’s nerdy best friend, Hortense, the subject of an imaginative plot twist. Ghawi, best known in town as the Sarah Jessica Parker stand-in in the Sex and La Cité plays, proves here that in addition to her talents as a comic/mimic, she has real acting chops. The piece is admirably directed by 6th Avenue’s Jesse Corbeil, assisted by Laura Allen.

There is no credit for set in the program, but someone has done a nice job with very little. A picnic table and clothesline suggest a backyard; a bit of black and white checkered flooring and a red and white tablecloth denote a kitchen. Go see this play, especially if you’re female. It will make you feel better.

Coil!!! may very well make you feel worse. It may also be the more brilliant of the two pieces of writing. It’s the story of best friends Herschel and Gene who, names notwithstanding, are not octogenarians but 25-year-old slackers. Herschel has failed to move on from his high school heyday and still expresses his emotions through rock ’n’ roll ballads. Gene has at least managed to snag a girlfriend, Lisa (Christine Sandilands). George, the playwright, is brilliantly cast as Herschel, a guy who, in high school, was probably seen as a bit of a troublemaker by his teachers, but also someone with strong leadership potential. His peers would have experienced him as a bully. George brings a kind of, well, coiled energy to the role that is scary. Herschel bears no resemblance to the sweet, passive Claudio in Repercussion’s Much Ado About Nothing, which is the last role I saw George play. Coil!!! has a clever set design credited to George and director Lowell Gasoi.

This play is being marketed as a mad-cap comedy, and at first, that label seems to work. It also seems to be about the war of the sexes (I’ve never been more relieved not to be a heterosexual than I was watching parts of this play). But in the end—and I think George is fully aware of this—it is something entirely different. In a city that is hyper-sensitive about angry 25-year-old men just now, this play is both deeply disturbing and fascinating.

Brazen and Coil!!! to Oct. 7, at Mainline Theatre (3997 St- Laurent), 726-4635, pay what you can, see listings for showtimes

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