‘Time Piece,’ ‘Guernica’ a Trite Pair at Open Fist

Director Olivia Honegger establishes a foreboding atmosphere while the audience waits for “A Time Piece” to begin at the Open Fist Theatre, where it’s on a bill with “Guernica.” Using distant and discordant sounds, shadowy lighting and an actor (Francis Paul DellaVecchia) sitting beside a table, Honegger revs us up for something memorable.

Then the plays begin, and it’s all downhill.

Neal Bell’s “A Time Piece” takes us into a man’s memories of his father (Steven Weingartner), as narrated by a lab-coated therapist (Arizona Brooks) who stands at a microphone at the side of the stage. At one point the therapist dons half a scaly mask and turns the memories into something surreal. But the play is trite under all the emotional haze that envelops it.

Laura Surginer, who sings with an arrestingly eccentric style, provides a very brief musical interlude. Then on comes “Guernica,” Daniel O’Brien’s scene in which a woman listens to conflicting advice from her alter ego and her estranged husband. Although “Guernica” won an award in the 10 Minute Play competition at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, it’s no more ambitious--and it’s less successful--than your average Groundlings sketch.

The show fades from memory within minutes.

* “A Time Piece” and “Guernica,” Open Fist Theatre, 1625 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends March 9. $10. (213) 882-6912. Running time: 55 minutes.