'Timing' shows spirit but does not impress

Summer Repertory Theater performs one-acts with less-than-perfect timing.

By Jedd Rosche

Published July 12, 2006

The MU Summer Repertory Theater doesn't quite meet the energy and pacing so important for one-act shows.

The presentation of David Ives one-act plays "All in the Timing," which runs through July 30 at The Corner Playhouse, makes a commendable, if imperfect, attempt to find the right racing heart tempo that packs the maximum amount of drama in as little time as possible.

The show opens with the amazing monologue "Singular Kind of Guy," which is about a man who believes he is actually a typewriter.

Ross Taylor delivers the monologue well, and it serves as the archetype for Ives's short shows with a playful, childish imaginative tone that plays in the dark borders of reality and mythology.

The troupe, however, decided to twist the context from a lonely man on a stage to an all-cast performance, complete with actors who don't even have to say a line but put the show in the context of Ives's setting — New York.

The MU version of the show is more united, choosing to embrace the central ideas behind the playwright's work rather than taking each show as individual. In Columbia, the scenes react to each other in the same café where everyone is looking for something big and nothing can be predicted.

The show "All in the Timing" falters, ironically, in its pace. After introducing the show with a speedy monologue that traverses quickly across the stage, the show comes almost to a grinding halt with its other acts.

The scenes "Mere Mortals" and "Seven Menus" were enjoyable and well-written, but without actors picking up the slack to keep the show moving and the energy intense, audience members might glance at their watches.

Ives particularly tries to appeal to every person in content and in style so that no matter your attention span, you can follow and enjoy "All in the Timing." The scenes are meant to roll along swimmingly, pausing for good laughs and a moment to breathe but maintaining a consistent progression.

In the MU rendition, there was more than one time when I wondered where these scenes were going and how long it would take before it got there.

You could see in the actors' faces they had Ives' overall goal of comedy in mind, and their collaborative effort was never compromised by diva or ego.

They acted, shouted, collided, swore and danced their way into a zany cacophony, an Ives vision in a Missouri expression, even if it was only for a short time.