Michele Lowe's The Smell of the Kill, a zippy but glib dark comedy about three upscale wives debating whether to let their annoying husbands freeze to death in a meat locker, gets two important things right. First, the characters are strongly thought out and, except for a predictable last-minute switcheroo by the most domesticated of the trio (Claudia Shear), stay true to their backgrounds and motivations. Second, the fast-paced-to-the- point-of-shrill production boasts three able actresses, most notably Jessica Stone, whose Goldie Hawnlike goofiness grabs some big laughs. But try as this raucous but only sometimes really funny comedy might to be a feminist rallying cry or cautionary tale, it's just a little too broad and too easy, with its femmes more psychotic than sympathetic. It's also more of a situation/comic argument than a play, but to Lowe's credit, just enough of a situation to hold the stage for its 80 intermissionless minutes.
