Love Me Tender, Love Me Harsh

There's also an appealing reversal of fortune in Steven Korbar's "Hard," directed by Benjamin Caron. Corby Griesenbeck has a pleasingly arrogant-dazed reaction, portraying a straight actor who's chosen to do gay porn for financial reasons. The playlet unfolds backstage before his scene of being gangbanged, and involves his interaction with a female "fluffer" (Kate Huffman) — hired to arouse him before his scene. The nicely cast Huffman portrays the antithesis of porn-meat arousal — a lanky, awkward, squeaky-voiced and suburban-attired damsel from Kansas, who's wandered in from some accounting company and is able to accomplish her task without removing a stitch, or an iota of physical contact.

Over in North Hollywood, Theatre Unleashed presents Andrew Moore's comedy Torrid Affaire, directed by Erin Scott, about a quintet of femmes at a kind of Tupperware party for horny women — the plastic items are sex toys, not coleslaw containers. Through this demonstration, led by Annmarie Mignini — who gives it her all — individuals break into gratuitous soliloquies about romantic and life crises, in the middle of living-room realism. I'm sure these are nice people performing for reasons they believe in, and I wish I had something nice to say about this production, but I don't.

PHOTO BY MICHELE K. SHORT

Rebecca Mozo and Nike Doukas in Balzac's dating emporium

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• Cousin Bette
• Andrew Moore
• Jeffrey Hatcher
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COUSIN BETTE | By JEFFREY HATCHER, adapted from the novel by HONORÉ de BALZAC | Presented by THE ANTAEUS COMPANY at DEAF WEST THEATRE | 5112 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hlywd. | Through March 21 | (818) 506-5436

LOVE BITES, VOLUME IX | Presented by ELEPHANT THEATRE COMPANY | 1078 Lilian Way, L.A. | Sun., 7 p.m., Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through March 14 | (323) 960-4410 | plays411.com/lovebites

TORRID AFFAIRE | By ANDREW MOORE | Presented by THEATRE UNLEASHED at the SHERRY THEATRE | 11052 Magnolia Blvd., N. Hlywd. | Through March 6 | (818) 849-4039