Six actors, six plays = North Coast Rep hit

By Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel

SOLANA BEACH, California — All in the Timing is a hit with six clever funny plays, six outstanding actors ,and precise direction by David Ellerstein. If your timing is good I recommend you catch the show before it closes on May 5th.

You will laugh your way through the evening, and won’t even realize there was no intermission. All six plays had funny twists on human relationships and how people communicate. There was a laugh a minute from start to finish.

In the first sketch , a young man enters a restaurant and asks a woman sitting alone if he can join her. From then on, every time a bell rings, each phrase is repeated with a different twist. The quick banter had the audience giggling to the end

In the second sketch, ”Words, Words, Word,” three actors as chimpanzees (ostensibly in a cage) are busy typing on their individual vintage typewriters. Each represents a famous writer, and together are writing about Hamlet. They move and gesture like chimpanzees, grunt, and make cute remarks. It was a good attempt, but not my favorite of the evening.

“Foreplay and the Art of the Fugue” opened with a couple at a miniature golf course putting from hole to hole. The guy is obviously trying to “make out “ with his lady. They are gradually joined by two other couples as if unaware of the others. Their dialogue and staging is the “Foreplay”.

When the three couples are moving on stage and pretending to play miniature golf , the choreography and conversations of each couple merge like a musical Fugue, a composition in which tunes are repeated in changing patterns. The timing and precision of the six actors was excellent.

The “Universal Language” sketch is s take-off on the attempt introduce Esperanto years ago as a new universal language. The skit has some very funny gibberish that reminded me of the great TV comic Sid Caesar supposedly speaking Italian or French with a mix of sounds and crazy English words. The two actors almost made the gibberish sound real and ended with a moment of possible romance .

“Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread” is a satire of the famous composer’s minimalist music. The choreography was stunning demonstrating the cast’s multi-talents.

In “Variations on the Death of Trotsky,” Trotsky enters the stage with a long-handled hatchet buried in his skull. (That is funny in itself!) He is trying to recall how he was murdered, (a bit of deja vu) and his assistant is reading old articles from the encyclopedia to help him.  It was funny, whimsical, a bit convoluted , but the cast carried it off with aplomb.

‘All in the Timing “ was written by David Ives between 1987 and 1993, and was an off-Broadway hit. Ives saw the humor in how we humans relate to other in words and actions, so thanks to him for the successful evening at the Rep.

The six Equity actors played various parts with equal excellence, so hats off and special kudos to each of them: Taylor Renee Henderson, Una Incrocci, Noelle Marion, David Mcbean, Christian Pedersen, and Omri Schein.
High credits also to Stage Manager Cindy Rulmley, Marty Burnet stage designer, Mathew Novotney lighting and Eliza Benzoni’s quick change costumes..

I usually cover one play at a time, but enjoyed the challenge of reviewing six in one night. I hope my efforts will encourage you to step up to the box office for tickets to enjoy the play as much as I did.
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Cantor Merel is cantor emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel.  He may be contacted via sheldon.merel@sdjewishworld.com