Love triangles, sexual liberation, and relationship complexities abound in Micheline Auger's Donkey Punch, in which characters challenge themselves to either live up to the person they think they are or fight for the person they want to be. The play, an edgy and modern piece that presents relationships and friendships through a nuanced filter, premiered at Tada Theater earlier this year under the lengthy title The Feminism of a Soft Merlot, or (How the Donkey Got Punched), and has now transferred to an Off-Broadway run at the Soho Playhouse.

Donkey Punch tells the story of two women, Kareena (Cleo Gray) and Sam (Lauren Dortch-Crozier), who have no idea what they’re in for when they let sex, monogamy, and a shallow pursuit of happiness define them and their life choices.  Cleo Gray comfortably and humorously portrays the uninhibited and sexually experienced Kareena, who we find in a somewhat happy relationship with Teddy (Michael Drew). Teddy, although sweet, domestic, and able to conquer Kareena with mouth-watering desserts, is too needy and unexciting for the energetic and uncommitted Kareena. She needs more -- more sex, more intensity, and more men -- which emasculates the sensitive Teddy.

Kareena does have a soft bone, and that’s for her friend Sam, who has been unable to get back into the dating world after the death of her long-term boyfriend. Kareena, not one to take no for an answer, pushes Sam to go on a date with Kyle (John McCormick), a pornographic filmmaker Kareena herself was once interested in. Sam initially takes a moral stance against the whole sex-industry, but becomes fascinated with the world and its people. With the manipulative encouragement of Kyle, the prude turned amateur enthusiast Sam doesn’t even recognize that her transformation is ruining her friendship and sense of self dignity.

Lauren Dortch-Crozier’s performance as Sam is enjoyable, and the emotional and physical transformation of her character makes it easy to for us to follow her journey. With the balance of the self-assured Gray, the two women present a friendship that feels familiar and yet has dangerous potholes that we genuinely don't want the characters to fall into. In fact, the friendship between the two women is what holds most interest in Donkey Punch. The pornographic world and the relationships with the two men are presented in a predictable light, with the men being overshadowed by the women and often restricted from adding a worthy perspective on the ensuing drama.

Director Audrey Alford has been able to skillfully contain the characters’ tensions and our anxieties, releasing them through sexual and violent acts that flare up throughout the piece. The constant change of pace, fast dialogue and slow movements across the stage, and ritualistic pouring of alcohol prepares us for the inevitable showdown between all four characters, after a welcomed and much-discussed appearance of a costume donkey’s head.