Wednesday night's production of Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class at A.C.T. was top notch, with supurb acting, writing, directing, costumes, set design, and props. The packed audience was delighted to be there, and most of us were classy enough not to wear jeans. (Our spouse set us straight about wearing our "dressy" jeans, and it appeared that several audience members could have used that same advice.)

Curse of the Starving Class, directed by Peter DuBois, is about a dysfunctional family who's constantly wishing for a piece of the "American pie." "Effort" seems to be a foreign concept to this family, except for the young daughter Emma, who puts a lot of effort into her 4H projects and running away. Emma and her drunken father Weston are both the misfits of the family, which makes them the most likeable characters in the play. The mother and brother only ever seem to complain and backstab. The cast are all surrounded by shady characters trying to take their land.

Our favorite aspects of the production were the smell of real bacon being cooked on stage and the live (well-cared for) lamb, who had uncanny timing with his "baahing." There's a whole page dedicated to the lamb on A.C.T's website--he and his mom are currently living on top of the theater in a custom pen! The play takes place in the family's kitchen and is pretty much centered around the perpetually empty refrigerator. We loved the rural farm setting that surrounded the exterior of the kitchen, especially when the angry Emma threw a fit and stomped around the perimeter.

Curse of the Starving Class runs through May 25 at A.C.T. Buy tickets here.