[NEohioPAL] Sun Review of Spotlights' "All In The Timing"

[a.phelps25 at att.net]

In case you missed it in Thursday's Sun Courier....

‘Timing’ is right for those seeking an obscure show

by Chuck Poliafico

Correspondent

The world according to David Ives is a very odd and obscure place, where the English language is put to the test, words are recreated and everything is based on timing.

The Broadview Heights Spotlights Community Theater takes a look into Ives’ world with their latest production “All in the Timing.” The production includes six of the 14 one-act plays that Ives had written in the 1980s and early ‘90s.

Each play takes place in a surreal situation and includes a young man who finds himself in a situation, where the only way he can get anything is to ask for the opposite; three chimpanzees talking while attempting to reproduce “Hamlet” on their typewriters; and an awkward meeting between a man and woman who are able to hit the reset button (in this case a bell) if they say the wrong thing. 

Each production, ranging from about 15 to 30 minutes, is a play on words or a play on time. Each production is obscure, strange and mostly humorous. Even the set design adds to the uniqueness of the production, depicting Salvador Dali’s 1931 oil painting of soft and drooping clocks and the cliffs off the coast of Catalonia, which is where he lived. 

The production starts strong with “Sure Thing,” directed by Christopher Bizurb and featuring Kevin Becker and Christine Madden as a young couple who meet at a restaurant. A small silver bell plays prominently on the table. Once one of the two says something offensive or rude, the other hits the bell until the person says something agreeable. It is a reset button in the timing of life.

For this production the language is crisp and playful and for the play to work well, timing and speed is critical.

That is exactly what Becker and madden deliver with their well-rehearsed performances to begin the first of the six productions on a high note. The chemistry between the two is strong and enjoyable.

“Words, Words, Words” follows with Meghan Pierce, Michelle Pierce and Colleen Shelly as three monkeys who are suppose to be typing from inside a cage.

“I am not a writer, I’m a monkey. I am suppose to be swinging from the branches,” says one of the monkeys.  

While the actors and Director Dane Leasure do a nice job with the bit, it is probably Ives’ weakest of his short plays.

“The Universal Language” is Ives’ longest of the six and closes out the first act.

Directed by Daniel A. Takacs, the production involves a woman (Natalie Romano) who wants to learn a new language from a con man (Mike Prosen) who begins to fall in love with her.

While the woman actually begins to understand the made up language where “wen” means one, “cha” is chair, and hello translates to “Velcro,” the con man tries to come clean to no avail. Romano and Prosen make the overlong and over the top scene enjoyable and interesting.

The second act is particularly strong with “Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread” featuring William Goff, Ryan Shrewsbury, Maggie Majercik and Vick Ungvarsky in a skit where the English language is put to the test.

Directed by Tim Anderson, the play is humorous and moves well.

“The Philadelphia,” probably one of the most unique of the six productions has Shrewsbury entering a South Philadelphia Irish pub and a waitress (Majercik) who tells him the opposite to what he wants to hear.

It is not until his friend (Becker) comes in and tells him that Black is white and white is black that he begins to catch on. Shrewsbury, Majercik and Becker are all amusing in this production directed by Andre Yudushkin.

The plast production “Variations on the Death of Trotsky” ends strong with John Miller as the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who spends or tries to spend the entire one-act play with a mountain climber’s ax protruding from his skull.

Miller is bold and way over the top in his portrayal of Trotsky, which only makes this act much more stronger. Goff as Trotsky’s revolutionary friend who is involved with his wife and Karen Johnston as the wife also add to the fun of this play.

While many community theaters today are struggling to bring in a wide variety of audiences, producing many productions that are well known, or musicals that are overdone, it is refreshing that the Broadview Heights Spotlights Community Theater brings to the area six one act plays that are relatively unknown and obscure.  

"All in the Timing” will not be a production for everyone, but for those who are looking for a little something different in their community theater, this production is witty, fun and a bit obscure.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $9 for students and seniors and can be purchased on line at broadview-heights-spotlights.org. Remaining show dates and times are 8 p.m. March 4, 5, 11, 12 and 3 p.m. March 6. All shows are in the Cultural Arts Building, 9543 Broadview Road, Broadview Heights.  Reservations:  440/526-4404.


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