These Short Plays Are Worth the Time

Evenings of “short plays” can run the gamut from good to bad and back again. “Schadenfreude,” a collection of eccentric one-acts by Todd Kulczyk and Kristina Leach now at Santa Ana’s Empire Theater, leans more toward the good.

While all of the playlets don’t work as well as they might with more refining, they’re tied together by a clever knack for dialogue and a solid feel of game-playing, an important ingredient of good theater.

The least successful piece is “Supernova in Hamlet,” a solo effort by Leach, in which two couples discuss their relationships in separate rooms, with overlapping dialogue. Both couples (Michael Serna and Pamela Nicholson, Justin Walvoord and Shannon Mahoney) are in the usual battleground of misunderstood intent and misspoken endearments. The play looks like the trial run for something more important that has yet to hit its mark.

Even so, the umbrella title “Schadenfreude” (or “delighting in others’ misfortunes”) is evident in “Supernova,” as it is in the remaining plays, all co-written by Kulczyk and Leach. It’s an individualistic outlook, and one that lends humor and insight to the evening.

The brightest piece is “Neapolitan,” a razor-sharp character portrait of two roommates, straight Gary (Serna) and gay Mike (Kevin Doyel). As Gary arrives at their digs, Mike is silent, angered to the max. Gary ignores him, until Mike fetches an ice cream container from the refrigerator, pointing out that Mike has eaten part of the vanilla and all of the chocolate from the Neapolitan mix. This sets off Mike’s tirade--”Is it because I’m gay? Is that what this is all about?”--which defines their characters in a taut moment that ends in a totally laid-back and hilarious denouement. The actors and script are delightful.

“The 1st” is little more than a gag, but an intricate and very funny one. In total darkness, Susan (Mahoney) and The Man (Doyel) are engaged in a throbbing session of kinky sex, when roommate Brenda (Kathy Simmons) arrives home and has to cross the room in darkness to get to her room. In the dark it sounds funny, and it is, particularly in the one flashing moment when Brenda has to turn a light on to find a book to read. The incongruous revelation is worth the price of admission.

The opening play, “Consummate,” like “Supernova,” is still finding itself. It is another exploration of the interior of a relationship that has run its course. Walvoord and Kim Jones are excellent as the sad couple realizing that the affair was really over three years before and that their attempts to keep it alive are in vain.

The most middle-of-the-road piece is “Debs,” which is distinguished by good writing and its ability to take sitcom to a higher level. Five young women on their way to a baby shower are stranded forlornly on a highway. Along with its very humorous dialogue, it also digs fairly deep into the women’s personalities, each expertly drawn. There is Jones as Lilly, pregnant but not by her husband; Pamela Nicholson as bossy Iris; lesbian Violet, played with humor by Simmons; Adriana Sanchez as delightfully ditsy Rose; and Mahoney as magazine-quiz addict Daisy.

All in all, it’s a thoroughly delightful evening--directed variously by Serna, Jack Millis, Stephen Ohab and Kulczyk--in celebration of an art form that always seems to be disappearing, but because of young artists like these, will never go away.

“Schadenfreude,” Empire Theater, 200 N. Broadway, Santa Ana. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Oct. 30. $12. (714) 547-4688. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

“CONSUMMATE”

Justin Walvoord: George

Kim Jones: Kelly

“DEBS”

Kim Jones: Lilly

Pamela Nicholson: Iris

Shannon Mahoney: Daisy

Adriana Sanchez: Rose

Kathy Simmons: Violet

“THE 1ST”

Kathy Simmons: Brenda

Shannon Mahoney: Susan

Kevin Doyel: The Man

“NEAPOLITAN”

Kevin Doyel: Mike

Michael Serna: Gary

“SUPERNOVA IN HAMLET”

Pamela Nicholson: Emily

Michael Serna: Derek

Shannon Mahoney: Lynn

Justin Walvoord: Will

The Empire Theater presents an evening of one-acts by Todd Kulczyk and Kristina Leach. Directed by Kulczyk, Jack Millis, Michael Serna and Stephen Ohab. Stage manager: John Osburn.