"Three for the Funny"

The Sam Bass Community Theater has once again produced an evening of One-Act plays. Known as the Directors' Workshop, the series features Sam Bass workers who have completed certain criteria (acted, stage-managed, run tech, etc.) and are qualified to direct, with a bit of supervision. Each director chooses an existing Sam Bass director as a mentor, to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's crossed. Essentially, the mentors are there to answer production questions, and field any problems that may come up. The directors are more or less on their own, with the mentor providing a safety net.

Sometimes, the directors choose their own plays; this time, the plays were chosen by the theater. All three are by David Ives.

These plays are hilarious. The humour ranges from wry wit to side-splitting, roll-out-of-your-seat, howl-inducing splendour!

"Degas, C'est Moi" is a peek into the life of a bored, unemployed New Yorker. Directed by Mary Underwood, this one places the largest number of actors on the stage. Mary moves her pieces around with aplomb and skill. Andy Brown, as the New Yorker, has impeccable timing and wry delivery. The play could have been written for him. The other characters are sort of designed to be unreal, one dimensional sketches in the final self-portrait.

"Babel's In Arms," directed by Rob Morris, is the most broadly funny of the three. Two reprobate workers are moving a stone--the first stone in the Tower of Babel. The church has gone corporate, and the poor saps are threatened with death if they don't build a tower big enough to reach God. It doesn't take a long time for them to figure out that, even though they worship different gods, their gods share the concept of infinity, and the tower is going to be tough to build, seeing as how it took them two years to move in the one stone. Eventually, they convince the corporation that God is everywhere, and hence, the tower is perfect the way it is. How they get from here to there will make you glad you went potty during intermission.

"Time Flies" has an aura of sweetness and first love, as May and Horace meet at a party and can't figure out who is supposed to make the first move. During the course of the play, they find out that they have only hours...no, minutes...no, seconds! They only have seconds to live, because May and Horace are Mayflies, and must hurry up and get it on, or die unfulfilled. This play piles pun on pun, until you can't actually keep up with them. Jennifer McKenna has done a remarkable job directing this with just the right touch of sappy sweetness and gritty reality.

Now, being David Ives, there is some language in these plays that you might not want your mother to hear, so make her a reservation on a night different from yours.

But, do make a reservation, and do go.

You will be very glad you did.

http://www.sambasstheatre.org/