If you’re looking for a good laugh this weekend, you could pop the TV on to catch SNL or page through the Sunday comics. A better idea, though, would be to head over to the Playhouse to catch the annual Players show, An Evening of Performance.
This year’s event features five mini-shows: Hidden in This Picture, written by “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin; The Ugly Duckling, a one-act by A.A. Milne; a performance from Sheer Idiocy, the campus improv group; and a pair of selections from Davis S. Raine’s Ten Minute Theatre—“Cuttin’ Line” and “The Tooth Hurts.”
The show opens with “Cuttin’ Line,” a bizarre little short about a recently deceased family who finds themselves in line, waiting for their eternal reward. The writer was clearly trying for humor, or at least surreality, by making the metaphysical utterly mundane. Unfortunately, through no fault of the performers, the attempt fell flat—I just didn’t find the script all that funny.
Things improved greatly with the next act, Hidden in This Picture. John Cahill plays Robert, a director making his first feature film. He is off schedule and overbudget, a fact that his producer Reuben (Jon Janssen) is reminding him of as the scene opens. This will be Robert’s last chance—his only chance—to film “his shot,” the closing sequence of the movie in which hundreds of Marines return to base, marching down a ridge at sunset. On a hill off the set, he watches the scene unfold with his friend and screenwriter, Jeff (Michael Dawe).
The banter between Robert and Jeff highlights Sorkin’s facility with witty repartee, and Cahill manages to effectively convey the alternating serenity and frenzy of a stereotypical “artsy” director. The highlight of the piece, though, is definitely Rick Casey’s portrayal of Craig, Robert’s lackwitted production assistant—the degree of obliviousness that the character displays makes you wonder how he remembers to breathe. The absurdity that eventually ensues can probably be summed up best by one of Dawe’s lines: “I believe in cows.”
The last item before intermission was Duckling. Michael Bambrick and Jill Dion play a king and queen trying desperately to marry off their daughter, the Princess Camilla (Lauren AlLee), whose lack of beauty is positively legendary. Prince Simon, a suitor from a distant country, is arriving soon to court Camilla, and her parents are going to make sure nothing goes wrong this time.
This play, too, is made by the dullard characters. Amelia Varner plays Dulcibella, a handmaiden of Camilla. Though most of the time she simply sits there and titters, her character is easily one of the funniest of the night. Brian Baum’s performance as a retainer of Simon is also notable, although his character is not so much stupid as just plain goofy. Watch for his entrance about halfway through the performance.
Upon returning from intermission, the crowd is immediately brought further into the show as more Idiots—the members of Sheer Idiocy—take the stage. Their series of extemporaneous skits had a few weak links, but for the most part was quite amusing. The most impressive was the “instant musical,” in which the Idiots came up with a show based on a topic selected from the audience. Everything was made up on the fly—even the music and song lyrics—and it came off remarkably well. (I bet you didn’t know that Thor had 50 kids…)
The final performance was “The Tooth Hurts,” a short play about Mavis (Linda Lim), the soon-to-retire Tooth Fairy, and her erstwhile apprentice Leon (Chris Lynch). Buffoonery is again the order of the day—Leon is completely inept as a potential replacement, and Mavis takes him to task again and again until she finally finds a job that he can do. Lim and Lynch hit their marks quite well, and the result is a closing act that will leave you in high spirits.
Overall, this show is one of the best Players productions in a while, and certainly one of the funniest. Showtimes are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 pm, and I recommend catching the performance—your time will be well spent.
