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 A lesbian metallurgist, a psychotic psychiatrist and a power-hungry physicist all walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, a joke?”

Not quite. The characters in the B Street Theatre’s latest production, “Spacegrrls” by Sharon Eberhardt, which opens today includes all of the above characters and many more.

The show itself is witty, and plays on gender themes to great effect. The plot focuses on the first all-woman team of astronauts going to an international space station. The only catch is that they are represented by a shallow cosmetics company and must perform commercials while on the station.

The cast consists of interns for the 2009-2010 B Street Theatre season, and many proved their chops during this, their annual intern showcase. Unfortunately on preview night, the girl playing “Tiffany” (Kristin Wolf) had an injury, and in her stead went the director of the play, Erin Island, keeping the pace up even though she had script in hand.

Shining spots of the production are the hilarious founder of the cosmetics company, played by Katie Walters, and the one-liner Russian, Stephanie, played by Tygar Hicks. Both have wonderful timing, and keep the pace up to a feverish level with plenty of material to go on from the script.

The only real difficulty with the show is the huge amount of scene changes that slows the pace immensely. Perhaps an area dedicated to the secondary sets might move things along. As it stands, the actors and dialogue are frequently interrupted by light cues and loud, energetic music.

That being the biggest qualm, the show is very funny and has some interesting points to make on life, existence and gender. Eberhardt’s words come off occasionally as a little trite and cliché, but the girls (and one gent, played by Brian Rife) play their parts to the letter.

The show plays at the B Street Theatre at 7 p.m. on June 11, 12, 14, 18 and 19. Call (916) 443-5300 for reservations.

MAX’S RATING - A CHUCKLE, A LAUGH, AND A HANKERING TO LISTEN TO SPACE ODDITY.

Picture courtesy of Maxwell McKee