Carson Nattrass & Laura Olafson star in Dry Cold's Urinetown.

WINNIPEG - A steady stream of pee jokes flows like nothing else in drought-afflicted Urinetown -- but bladder control is a weighty issue in the shamelessly satirical comic musical, presented by Dry Cold Productions this weekend.

"Urinetown has subject matter that -- although it's very funny -- it's meant to be taken seriously," says local triple-threat Reid Harrison, who shares the theatre company's artistic directing duties with fellow thesp Donna Fletcher.

As the 10-time Tony-winning Broadway gem's story goes, holding it becomes a way of life for residents of a stark, Gotham-like city. An unthinkable water shortage has led the government to ban private toilets, leaving it up to a vindictive corporation called Urine Good Company to charge admission to public potties. Officers like narrator Lockstock (Kevin Klassen) and his sidekick Barrell (Tom Soares) are assigned to catch anyone who releases bodily waste on the streets and cart them off to a mysterious black hole called Urinetown.

Carson Nattrass (MTC Warehouse's Glengarry Glen Ross) puts on a brave face as Bobby Strong, the leader of an underground rebellion who demands that power-tripping UGC CEO Caldwell B. Cladwell (Steve Ratzlaff) let his people relieve themselves for free. But while Cladwell's evil demeanour makes him the most loathsome guy around, his motives are legit in today's ecologically concerned society, Harrison says.

"The bad guy in the show, he has been doing things that many would see as harsh. But he has, in fact, done what he said he would do when he took over -- and that is, save the water."

Flooded with laughable tracks like Too Much Exposition, It's a Privilege to Pee, Why Did I Listen to That Man? and Run, Freedom, Run!, Urinetown sounds like a jolly good time -- until lyrics about poverty, drought and corporate greed starting sinking in.

Writers Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann were inspired by late German playwright Bertolt Brecht's epic style of theatre, which uses absurd comedy and music to prevent the audience from getting too caught up in plot and characters, and encourages them to think about a play's underlying political ideas.

Urinetown debuted on Broadway in September 2001 (a week after the 9/11 attacks) with the intelligent, modern theatregoer in mind. And it's just Dry Cold's style.

"Our mandate has always been primarily to do things that are more contemporary," says Harrison. "The other thing we like to look at are shows that have more serious content or are dramatically different."

The company -- which has staged offbeat musicals like Assassins and Nine since its 2001 inception -- was itching to produce Urinetown before Rainbow Stage pencilled it into its 2006 season. Harrison says his disappointment turned bittersweet when financial struggles forced Rainbow to cancel the show.

"You don't wish poorly on them at all. Having said that, we were pleased with the opportunity to do it."

Dry Cold's shoestring budget has still afforded it all the talent it needed to make Urinetown a miserable place. Brian Perchaluk took time off from meeting with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton for Manitoba Theatre Centre's upcoming The Boys in the Photograph to design sets, local actors Sharon Bajer and Miriam Smith play hypocrite urinal warden Ms. Pennywise and very-pregnant Little Becky respectively, and college grad Laura Olafson kick-starts her career as Bobby's torn love interest -- and the villain's daughter -- Hope Cladwell.

Nattrass won a Betty Mitchell Award for his portrayal of heroic everyman Bobby in Calgary last year, and has obliged to take on supposed bad-guy Cladwell yet again.

"(Bobby) tries to fight the good fight and defeat Urine Good Company, but he actually makes the situation worse," Harrison says.

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