Identity Crisis - A Confusion Of One-Act Comedies. Directed by Ian Hart, Yvonne Webber and Elissa Rosati
The intimacy of this dinner theatre preview at Happy Valley's Zuni Artspace required an audience as receptive as the cast were lively. With the stage mere centimetres from the tables, the full-throttle nature of the single-act sketches, courtesy of American Community Theatre, ensured that the entire room was drawn into Christopher Durang's and David Ives' crazed universe. They kicked off with Sure Thing, a random encounter set in a cafe. Its rapid-fire combination of Groundhog Day and Sliding Doors finds Mark Trimbee's hapless Bill trying his luck with Nancy Yao's ice-queen Betty, in a scene that repeatedly takes two steps back to one step forward. This stop-start interweaving of scenarios afforded a sparkling comic complexity and contrasted the simple, stripped-down stage set-up. Unfortunately, such sophistication was then undone by the comparatively weak Captive Audience, a stodgy, abrasive exercise exploring the mind-control qualities of TV sets. Despite Herculean efforts from the performers, the material was weak.
The final two comedies were the strongest: Nina In The Morning pushes the boundaries of taste as Laurie Wahner's eccentric Nina fails to come to terms with anything. Abraham Boyd's superbly underplayed Butler provides a scene-stealing narration. The riotous romp of Mystery At Twickenham Vicarage was a superb finale, a no-holds-barred send-up of whodunnit mysteries and the British upper class. Arvin Robles (left) threw himself around with hyperactive abandon as the maligned, misunderstood, furniture-humping 'Jewemy' while the others gave new meaning to the term 'stiff upper lip'. In a setting as intimate as this, the comedies were a well-worked novelty. The larger confines of Chong Yuet Ming Theatre at the University of Hong Kong will no doubt provide a sterner test for the material the actors have to work with.
In English. Today-Sat, 8pm (with additional 4pm show on Sat). Chong Yuet Ming Theatre, University of Hong Kong. $185 ($125 matinee) HK Ticketing (with proceeds going to Project Shield). Inquiries: 3128 8288