SIS’s production of BFE deserves commendation on several counts. The young members of the cast show promise, and the script, aided in great part by Eric Riedman’s performance as Jack/The General, is often laugh-out-loud funny. Regrettably, coherence is not among the play’s virtues. There are a few themes at work; that the things we choose to value can prevent us from being valued by those around us is perhaps chief among them. Unfortunately, the attention paid to developing this and other themes is haphazard at best. The result is a gruesome and unimportant pseudo-comedy about the crushing adolescent realization that the architecture of one’s face communicates who they are to the outside world. BFE was lauded by the press at its original New York production, leading me to suspect that this performance failed its script rather than the other way around. Unsettling grammatical and punctuation issues aside, if Leticia Lopez’s Director’s Notes are any indication of her understanding of this play, its muddled conclusion becomes less surprising. VIRGINIA ZECH 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 4 p.m. Sun. Ends March 16.

Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m. Starts: Feb. 22. Continues through March 16, 2008