Animal House

If weeks of dinner parties and holiday cheer didn’t kill you, they may have ignited a carnal desire to punch a few people in the face. We don’t mean to say there’s anything wrong with joyful smiles and laughter, but, after all, those polite societal formalities are only covering up our innate animalistic desires, right?

At least that’s what the cast of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Hunter Gatherers suggests in the dark comedy presented by Actor’s Theater. The plot follows Pam and Richard as they host their annual dinner party with friends, Wendy and Tom. The party begins with an animal sacrifice and quickly devolves into a raucous expression of primal man. The night continues with sex, violence, wrestling, dancing, and deception. The polite dinner party only reveals the inherent animalistic flaws of the human condition.

Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Starts: Dec. 31. Continues through Jan. 15, 2011