Genre:

A local paper called writer John Del Signore "Saturday Night Live's most recent comedic find." Which, given the current state of SNL, should be enough warning to steer clear of this aimless, barely-scripted, half-assed satire. Set on New Year's Day sometime in the future "after the third catastrophe"—whatever that means—Goat focuses on Ray and Jay's crumbling friendship. Or is it on Ray and Vivian's nonexistent relationship? Or perhaps it's immigrant housekeeper Dave, his prepubescent daughter Deb, or the tie-dyed "hippie" caricature Reginald Horizon. Unable to decide which of his poorly-rendered characters to concentrate on, the playwright resorts to post-MTV gimmickry like an unintelligible rock number, a freestyle rap, and sub-Michael Moore references to corporatized America like "Verizon, Vermont." The actors don't help much, with arch movements and stagy gestures that make John Kerry look like Marlon Brando. The whole thing feels like a late-night dorm goof, best left with other bong spillage on the carpet. —Ellen Carpenter

• Where: Access Theater
• When: Sat, Aug 14 at 7:30 p.m.; Sat, Aug 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Thu, Aug 26 at 3 p.m., Fri, Aug 27 at 10:30 p.m.; Sat, Aug 28 at 3 p.m.