There's something sinister happening at the AllWays Lounge & Theatre.  Amid the disfigured products of a madman's scalpel and the campy jolts of soap-operatic stings are the mutilated remains of good ideas and the stain of missed potential.  In their original production of "La Sirena," the company members struggle through a chaotic score and awkward book, all the time trying desperately to discover a style in which the play will work, or at least struggling to convey that stylistic choice to the audience.

Opera singer Marina Morelli is about to be thrust into a world darker than any she's known: the world of extreme plastic surgery and sexual kink.  Orchestrated by her sexually deviant husband, Marina is sent to the notorious and elusive Dr. Trenton Crane, who has received media attention for his grotesque experimentations in plastic surgery.  While Dr. Crane devises the ultimate extreme makeover in preparation for the annual Sexpo, he begins to develop feelings for the captured songbird, leading him to wonder whether he can release her back to her husband after the transformation is complete.

Created by Samantha Hubbs and directed by Dennis Monn, the tone of "La Sirena" is established early; this is camp at its most twisted.  The underground world of Dr. Crane falls somewhere between Edgar Allan Poe and Dr. Frank-N-Furter, though I'm not sure either Vincent Price or Tim Curry would really fit in.  And therein lies the problem: "La Sirena" is a play that just can't seem to identify itself.

Besides the obvious reliance on camp, "La Sirena" wavers in every way.  The musical genre incorporates elements of rock and electronic, even hip-hop, but the MIDI-esque quality of the score is an odd jumbling of sounds.  Perhaps this is representative of the bastardized nature of Crane's own experiments, but if the music is meant to be thematically referential, it comes across  instead as spoken-word lyrics performed freestyle with your home Casio.

The lyrics defy all rules of rhythm and poetics, and not in a ground-breaking, genre-bending kind of way.  In fact, even seasoned musical theatre performers such as Vatican Lokey strugle to find their way through the erratic notes and lyrics, giving us instead cumbersome caterwauling.  But beyond the music, the story struggles on the most basic level.  The budding, though twisted, love between Dr. Crane and Marina lacks the arc needed in order for the audience to justify the odd courtship.  Instead, the shoe seems to lurch ahead in the characters' stories instead of showing the logical transitions.

But you might say "That's not the point.  Its a melodrama!"  Sure, but even the most superficially constructed soap opera strives to tell a story.  In "La Sirena" shock value is favored over anything identifiable, and even the shock lacks real punch.  In a musical that is described as "bloody," one expects to see red along the lines of "Sweeney Todd."  Instead, the dungeon remains remarkably pristine, even with the occassional stuffed appendage hanging from the ceiling.

As the captive singer, Hubbs gives a confusing performance.  While Marina's husband, in his usual cruel fashion, belittles her vocal prowess, the rest of the characters continually rave about her pipes, calling her a star, a songbird.  Hubbs' vocal performance, however, suggests a nervous novice singer instead of an opera diva, even a delusional one.

Thank goodness for Lokey, who plays Dr. Crane.  Lokey's grasp of a camp sensibility results in the only performance that goes the distance needed to make this production work.  Similarly, Otter, who plays Dr. Crane's wife-turned-bird woman, delivers both humor and vulnerability just when both are needed most.

All that being said, there is a world of creativity at work here, and the sheer fact that the AllWays Theatre is supporting new works should be commended.  The world of the play is fun, and there is definite potential.  Just as Frank-N-Furter has his Transylvanians, Dr. Crane has his experiments (bird women, demon men, SINtaurs and pig ladies) who are always nearby to provide choral commentary.  The performers are fully committed to this weird world, and even through clumsy musical arrangements and plot issues, it's hard to watch this play without a smile.  One just wishes that for every inch of over-the-top performance that is delivered, the cast would've gone the mile instead.

"La Sirena" may be a confusing evening of theatre bnut is an interesting spectacle.  If your theatrical tastes drift toward the raw and offbeat, you might find this experiment well worth the risk.