Buddies have a wide range of options: They can launch NASA programs, torch Vegas rooms, and everything in between.
Girlfriends, on the other hand, have two basic choices. They can shop together (“Sex and the City”) or stab each other in the back (“Mean Girls”).
Halley Feiffer’s wicked comedy “How To Make Friends and Then Kill Them,” falls on the dark side of the spectrum. The show begins with Randy Newman’s “Toy Story” theme “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” but never mind: The title tells you what’s in store.
Feiffer (the daughter of satirist Jules) is an expert comic actor with an appealingly skewed sensibility, most recently as one half of a lesbian couple in Ethan Coen’s “Women or Nothing.” She doesn’t perform in this play, but it’s clearly written with the same off-kilter vibe.
Ada (Katya Campbell) and her younger sister, Sam (Keira Keeley), have a connection that’s almost sadomasochistic. They’re around 10 when we meet them, and blond, perky Ada — who loves to strike ballerina poses — lords it over her artistic brunette sibling.
“Will you bruise me so Mom will pay more attention to me?” Ada asks. Sam obediently pinches her arm.
When the girls befriend Dorrie (Jen Ponton), an overweight wallflower of the same age, this is a relief for Sam: Finally, someone weaker than she is.
But things change with time, and the top-dog crown is passed around as we follow the trio through high school, college and their 20s.
The play doesn’t add up to all that much in the end, but the production, skillfully directed by Kip Fagan, is a tasty bonbon.
For that we can thank the wonderful cast, who bring both nuance and great timing to roles that flirt with the grotesque. Look for the way Keeley’s flexible, expressive face goes from plaintive to downright satanic in the blink of an eye. She’s scary and mesmerizing — better as a stage friend than a real one.