In TILDA SWINTON ANSWERS AN AD ON CRAIGSLIST, an isolated and aimless gay man with a “roommate wanted” ad on Craigslist finds his life, family, and relationship flipped upside down when the ad is answered by effusive and other-worldly actress Tilda Swinton (played in drag by Tom Lenk from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) who demands she be allowed to study and dissect his sad life for her next big movie role. The two very different personalities clash immediately as things get hysterically chaotic and surprisingly cathartic.

Academy Award winner/trendsetter/celestial being Tilda Swinton has yet to make her New York stage debut, but while we await for her to grace us with her presence, comedian/Buffy alum Tom Lenk is playing her (or a version of her) in the hilarious Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist, a play by Byron Lane (who also co-stars) in which Swinton arrives to study a poor sad sack mortal, to play the part that will win her another Oscar. After a successful run in Los Angeles, the show is now at the Laurie Beechman Theater, where the intimacy of the venue and the free-flowing booze make for an unforgettable, delightful experience. We spoke to Lenk about taking on a larger than life character like Swinton, and he explained how a classic Disney movie encouraged him to play her, “Byron wasn’t aware of this when he wrote the script, but there are so many references and undertones of Mary Poppins in the script, and that’s how I knew I needed to do the show, I know every line in that movie.” Lenk describes the play as Mary Poppins meets Our Town meets A Christmas Carol, and he’s onto something there. The show’s joys are plenty and eclectic, just like Tilda herself. What on Earth was Tilda Swi …Read more