 "Photo: Justin Kenward")
Kicking off the 2010 Chaffey Theater season was All in the Timing, a play written by David Ives and directed by Professor Christa Havenhill. The entire production is a series of short one act plays known for their less demanding set requirements, wordplay and absurdity.
The first play, “Sure Thing,” depicts a meeting between Bill (Luis Rodriguez; Batboy, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum) and Betty (Erica Lewman; Grease, The Laramie Project, Vagina Monologues) in a café. As the dialog progresses, awkward moments occur followed by an audible “ding” and the dialog resets until the right words are spoken and a connection between the two is made. The two spearheading the initial play are veterans of the Chaffey stage this act was immediately engaging as both actors we’re clearly polished and well poised.
Next, the play audience was treated to was “Words, Words, Words” starring Dionte Riggs, Katherine Valadez & Bjorn Werner (A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum) portraying three monkeys in the throws of writing Hamlet and postulating other cerebral discourse. This portion of the show was a sharp contrast to the beginning as the actors constantly seemed to be “finding their way” both in terms of dialog and blocking. Each time anyone of them spoke, their lack of fluidity made their performance seem strained. Even when they moved, they looked more like three college kids being silly rather than group of committed actors embracing the absurd nature of the text —or even monkeys for that matter.
“Universal Language” featured Chelsea Pope (A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, Vagina Monologues), Joshua James and a cameo by Eric Arevalo, this piece involves a teacher and a student who connect via the made-up language of Unamunda. From the moment she took the stage “Universal Language” definitely belonged to Chelsea. Her talent, passion and energy were forcibly engaging and certainly the focal point of the play. It was all Joshua could do to simply keep-up and hold-on for the ride, playing a ubiquitous Zeppo to her commanding Groucho.
The second half opened with “Phillip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread,” with Miguel Quirarte (The Laramie Project, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum), Dixie Stone (Vagina Monologues), James Arlow (Romeo and Juliet, Vagina Monologues) and Maria Villalabos. I must admit that this play caught me off guard considering it starts off as a typical scene and then jumps into avant-garde rantin’ n’ dancin’ that then subsides back into the initial typical scene that concludes with a simple “we loved each other, once” between Quirarte and Stone proved extremely moving juxtaposed against the preceding chaos.
“The Philadelphia” is set in a restaurant (I guess David Ives really likes to eat out) where the character of Mark (Josh Mayfield) arrives in a chaotic state. His friend Al (Ararat Aguilar, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum) then informs him that the reason for his confusion is that he must request the opposite for everything he desires. After Al grasps this concept, or “passed on” his “Philadelphia” to Mark, he then utilizes this knowledge to seduce the waitress (Kelsey Cole, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum). Much like the previous “Words, Words, Words” the inexperience of the performers was apparent in that they simply seemed to be running lines and amused that they were being silly on stage rather than committing to their performance.
The performance concluded with “Variations of the Death of Trotsky” where Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky (Hero Carlisle) still dawns the very ice axe used to take his life, and remains embedded in his skull throughout the duration of the play and conversations with his wife (Liz McCleary, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum) after already having died. Again these actors also seemed more worried about lines and holding on to accents than committing to their characters.
I didn’t have a sense of husband and wife connection, and most of the comedy seemed overplayed. Fortunately comic relief did arrive in the form of Ramon (Peter Estrada) whose comedic presence lifted the energy of the play and was even augmented by Guitarist (Patrick Arandas) cameo.
With live theater becoming a dying art, I left satisfied with having experienced David Ives’ absurdist play of All in the Timing. Despite all the finer point nitpicking, I applaud Professor Havenhill for bringing a production to campus that both encourages her actors to grow in the art as well as being mentally stimulating to the student body.
It’s a shame really that by the time this is published, the production will be history and the time for any chance of seeing Ali’s vivacious and ineffable smile will have passed.
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