* Raunchy and full of gratuitous violence, the world premiere of “yo ho.” is not recommended. Excellently directed by JD Caudill and skillfully fight directed by Carly Belle “CB” Cason, this raw, raucous, and ribald show is totally confused and confusing. Most importantly, it takes us off-track of the true story of the relationship between Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two of the most famous female pirates to ever sail the high seas. Back in the early 18th century, both disguised themselves as men in order to join pirate crews, and according to Wikipedia, they eventually served under John “Calico Jack” Rackham. Considering that “piracy was a space where gender and sexual norms were more fluid than on land”, several writers have theorized that there was a lesbian relationship between them.
In sharp contrast to this historically valid story, Babes with Blades production of “yo ho.” is a disappointment. Based on a muddled script by SMJ (a playwright known only by their initials), this combination burlesque show and sexually-themed comedy is not only rude and crude but a fiasco. Whereas the advance piece states that the play is “Equal parts historical fantasy and introspective sexual and gender exploration… [and] a deeply emotional reimaging and reminder of queer history”, I found the play to be cruel and unfunny, if not also disgusting. Full of lots of vignettes that sometimes hang together and sometimes don’t, the performance at best is meant to titillate with all sorts of bawdy humor. But in reality, the show is beyond a hot mess with its aggravated assaults, gratuitous killings, simulated sex acts, overuse of the “F-bomb”, and perpetuation of immoral and unethical behavior. The story is particularly disgusting in the way it explores the relationship between sex and violence.
The tale takes place sometime between 1718 and 1720, towards the end of the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, coincident with the reign of King George I of Great Britain and colonial administrator Governor Woodes Rogers of the Bahamas, who was also a pirate hunter. During this time, pirates in the Caribbean would hijack European merchant ships; and here we follow a ship of pirates, who are American colonials. Having said that, the premise behind the play is actually a reasonable one: that it is much better for lesbians and lesbian couples today than it was in previous centuries when women disguised themselves in men’s clothing and with fake whiskers. Specifically, in the days of pirates, a number of lesbians had the courage to buck the prevailing norms and act like men onboard ship, learning how to operate sails as well as master the art of swordsmanship.
Basically, the two principals Mary Read (Sierra Buffum) and Anne Bonny (Rachel Sleek-Bañuelos), separately disguise themselves as Mark and Andy, and each want to be the tough guy onboard ship. Initially, Andy calls Mark “military man” as a mocking tribute to their toughness. In the first scene, Andy kills off Mary’s lover Vanessa (Brittani Yawn), ultimately to have her to themself. Other people on board ship are the captain Calico Jack (Stef Brundage) and Chad/James (William DelForge). Among the characters, we see an Anglican priest, a sexually hot nun, a barkeep, and several others. Nearly all of the characters are involved in cross-dressing: with women dressing as men, and men dressing as women, and if they do or don’t cross-dress, then they engage in various sexual fantasies.
The first act is bad, but the second act is worse. We aren’t all that sure who is in love with whom and when and why and for how long… or when a given character might become hypersexual. Perhaps more importantly, it is unclear throughout who has died and who is still alive and who has been brought back to life (or not). More to the point, whereas the first act sticks to the pirates from the 18th century, the second act starts off with Mary and Andy in the present-day playing a game of Scrabble on their bed. As the show unfolds, things become more anachronistic, with too much bouncing around between living in the pirate era and then in the present day and back again, etc. At one time, we even watch Annie and Mary do their costume change on stage as they move between centuries. Thus, when conflicting timelines are introduced, it’s too much of an effort to weed through the disarray.
Yet the point that the playwright is trying to make is that things are much better today for lesbians, unlike previous eras when they had to hide their relationships and the type of women whom they really were. Among other things, lesbian couples can now marry. And while the ending makes its point about queer love, I think something is lost when Anne and Mary’s relationship is projected into the current day. To my mind, if the play were set up right, the analogy would be clear in the audience’s mind. Less evident, however, is whether the play also intends to showcase the lesbian relationship as somehow being better than other queer ones. But while depicting crossdressing, sexual fluidity, and gender-bending is one thing, this show is twisted in that it glorifies death, assault, lewdness, and killing. The story is insulting and goes against the grain of what it ought to depict, that is, the need to be comfortable in your own body as you want to be—and the fact that everybody is entitled to their own form of sexual and gender expression as long as it doesn’t infringe on the dignity and rights of others.
Costume design by Jennifer Mohr is good and appropriate for this kind of production, especially all of the more glittery and sexually provocative outfits. Scenic design by Amy C. Gilman is compactly done for such a small stage. I especially liked the big rope ladder that provided a successful illusion of being on a pirate ship, plus the clever arrangement and rearrangement of wooden portions of the set throughout the performance to demarcate locales. Also, the lighting by Laura J. Wiley helps to differentiate scenes. Intimacy director Alyssa Vera Ramos has been called upon to handle a wide array of sexually-themed sequences throughout. The sound design by Alex Kingsley was absolutely right on target, especially with the multitude of sound effects, songs, and music. Of course, there are the swords and ropes and weapons of violence.
In all, the acting and directing are great, but SMJ’s story is a zero. While I enjoyed watching the skills involved in the sword fighting, some of these scenes often didn’t make any sense in the context of the show. In general, I didn’t care for all the physical fighting, aggression, shooting, and bondage for no good reason, which, when taken together, crossed a line. Nevertheless, if you’re into lowbrow entertainment and humor, then this may be the show for you. And perhaps if you identify as queer, then you may think the show is funnier than I did and be more tolerant of the inconsistent storyline. I am certain that younger people in the audience on opening night laughed largely because of the play’s lascivious nature and also knowing that the deaths on stage were not final. But while a good number found this play to be funny during the first act, things went steadily downhill. At least six people left during intermission. Then many of the diehards stopped laughing during the second act. Furthermore, the performance went on for much too long: at over-two hours plus a 15-minute intermission.
All that being said, the play was never boring, in part because I kept wondering how the audience might be offended next. Plus, since much of the show is at the point of a sword, this was often just a little too close for comfort if you’re in the first row of the audience. So I definitely had to pay close attention!
“yo ho.” is playing through August 29, 2026, at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater, 1133 W. Catalpa Avenue, in Chicago.
General admission tickets – $35
Students and seniors – $28
Performance schedule:
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.
Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
Open caption performances are Saturday, August 15 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, August 16 at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, August 20 at 8:00 p.m., and Friday, August 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Sensory-friendly performances are Sunday, August 2 and Sunday, August 9 at 3:00 p.m.
Fully masked audience performances are Sunday, August 9 and August 16 at 3:00 p.m.
Streaming dates for yo- ho. will be announced at a future date.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://babeswithblades.org/.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up, and click on “yo ho”.
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