Issue date: 1/16/03

Ad Astra's two collections of one-act plays display the range of comedic, dramatic and physical talents of the company. Reporter Eric Hoyt details the highlights.

As its title suggests, David Ives' "All in the Timing"relies heavily on pacing. The plays move at lightning speed and contain more pop culture allusions than an entire season of "The Simpsons."

The first play, "Sure Thing," begins with Betty (Megan Schemmel) sitting in a cafe and reading "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.

Like Faulkner, Ives is interested in deconstructing the English language and playing around with the idea of time. But where Faulkner, a modernist, achieved a deep human understanding that was both hilarious and devastating, Ives, a clearly postmodern writer, finds it more fun just to be hilarious.

In the second play, the stuttering Dawn (Heidi Hewitt) signs up for lessons with Don (Llyod Bolick) in order to learn "The Universal Language" -- a made-up, invented mixture of jibberish, German and names of celebrities.

The third play, "Variations on the Death of Trotsky," features Leon Trotsky (John Luzar) writing at his desk with a mountain climbers axe sticking out of his head. When Mrs. Trotsky (Schemmel) shows her dear husband that the encyclopedias say he has been killed, Mr. Trotsky goes through a series of reactions -- including the sad recognition that he will never see "Casablanca," a film he admits he would have hated for its bourgeoisie politics but would still like to have seen.

"Words, Words, Words," the finale play of "All in the Timing," consists of three talkative monkeys (Ryan Colwell, Schemmel, and John Luzar) locked in a room with typewriters, forced by scientists to type and type until they write Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

The second show, "Welcome to the Moon"is written by John Patrick Shanley, best known for his Academy Award-winning 1987 screenplay "Moonstruck," which starred Cher and Nicolas Cage.

The six one-acts that make up "Welcome to the Moon" are largely about dreamers, lovers and romantics forced to confront life's realities.

"The Red Coat," the show's first play, centers around a moment of truth when John (Jared Hamilton) reveals his feelings of love to Mary (Schemmel). As John and Mary stand under the blue light of night, all inhibitions slowly break down until their words leap from their hearts directly through their mouths. The play ends in a touching moment when the newly formed couple steps forward into the warm, orange light out the dark night.

In the overtly symbolic "Down & Out," Poet (Colwell) moans to Love (Erin Johnson) about the loss of his pencil -- without which he cannot write. To make things worse, a black-cloaked man appears on stage, steals Poet's library card, and offers Poet wads of cash in exchange for his soul. As the "Down & Out" is Shanley at his best and most self-aware. Colwell's over-the-top performance steals the show and Luzar's direction finds the difficult balance between irony and true feeling.