Get Out This Weekend: Matt & Ben at Freehold Theater

On this Valentine's Day, we also take the time to honor the kind of love that exists between two straight dudes -- the primarily heterosexual feelings that a man has for his BFF. Exhibit A: Stan and Kyle. Exhibit B: Jay and Silent Bob. Exhibit C: Matt and Ben, the celebrity spoof of the relationship between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, focusing on the period right before they became famous (i.e., the making of Good Will Hunting). Except in this case, the duo didn't so much write the Oscar-winning screenplay that catapulted them to celebrity status as it literally fell out of sky, fully composed, into Ben's apartment while the two aspiring stars were working on a whole other project: their film adaptation of Catcher in the Rye.

That's the starting point for the play, written and originally performed off-Broadway by two women, Mindy Kaling (of The Office) and Brenda Withers. In the hands of Two Hours' Traffic, the Seattle premiere of the piece stars two more ladies, Felisa Smithson and Brenda Joyner as the dynamic duo, along with another female, director Morgan Aldrich at the helm. (Aldrich must be cited for writing probably the funniest Director's Notes we've ever seen, under the title "Musings on a Douchebag.") Smithson (as Matt) and Joyner (as Ben) do a virile job as two dudes, with the super-cute Joyner getting extra props for her brief cameo as Gwyneth Paltrow.

Overall, the piece is pretty funny, with some blisteringly great lines about Hollywood, and the last-minute, make-do set works too (Matt and Ben was originally slated to play at Balagan, but had to move to Freehold at Oddfellows Hall when the theater wasn't ready). If anything, it's too long, but we say that about everything. The play in its original form was a little over an hour and even that was too long, so Two Hours' Notice version at 90 minutes (no intermission) is really pushing it. Still, this mischievous two-woman play is a capable and chuckle-filled look at the hetero love between a couple of famous meatheady men. Happy V-Day, brah!

8pm // Fri-Sun // Freehold Theater // 915 E Pine St // Tickets on a pay-what-you-can sliding scale from $10-$30