Some of the best New York theater experiences aren’t in Times Square or even anywhere near 42nd Street. They don’t require you to dress up and pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket that might be “partial view.” So instead of going the obvious route, I recommend Under St. Marks Theater, which has a seating capacity that can’t be any more than 25 and a heating system that kicks on periodically, making clanking noises. But I promise, this only adds to the wonderfully enjoyable, super New York-y experience that you will have if you go see Lustyness: Plays About This Guy Named Lou, which currently has a short run at the venue.

Written and directed by Antony Raymond (Gin and Milk, Elsinore County), Lustyness is a series of both hilarious and poignant vignettes that center around Lou, an aspiring actor, played by the wonderful Eric Doviak. With each vignette, we see Lou with one or two other individuals (an acting partner, a running buddy, his brother, a mistress and a few others) and learn of his triumphs and his failures in life on both the east and west coasts of this country. While there is an overall darkness to Lustyness due in large part to Lou’s ego-spawned pitfalls (particularly as they apply to sex), there are also many truly funny and surprising plot points and lines that made the play extremely entertaining.

Lustyness: Plays About This Guy Named Lou runs through Sunday, January 12th at Under St. Marks Theater.