At Chance, 1 Out of 5 Isn’t Bad

The Chance Theater’s “Midnight Madness” series follows the main stage performances Friday and Saturday nights, and this time around it’s called “To Be AND Not to Be and Other Contradictions.”

All have good ideas, but of the five short plays there is one excellent piece that makes the evening worthwhile.

“Lethal Persuasion,” a tightly wrought, sensitive and insightful little drama, concerns a young couple, strangers who find themselves together on a railway track, waiting for the train that will end their misery.

Authors Martin E. Williams and Chris Ceballos have balanced the play’s ingredients, the personalities of Hillary and Robert, and the brief explanations of their bitter lives, with rewarding restraint, letting their characters flow freely and affectingly.

Soo J. Kim is very good as Hillary, though she seems a little tough-edged for the fragile result of an oppressive mother’s misguided affection. The toughness in Casey Long’s Robert, though, is just right, sharp yet warm, hard yet soft, angry but with a rich humor beneath the surface. Both performances do the play great justice, and Ceballos’ worthy direction is properly subtle.

*

Kara Hartzler’s “Writer, Actor, Director,” well-directed by Aubrey Hartman, simply goes beyond its limits. The joke about a playwright who has to create the scenes and dialogue for her actor lover to perform with her, is clever, but in spite of good performances by Amy Blomquist as the Writer, and Long as the Actor, it needs to be cut.

The same problem exists in John Adreini’s “Winky,” directed by Robert Fileta. It’s a world of clowns, and the insane are clowns who no longer have a sense of humor. A funny and searching premise, Adreini spoils it by squeezing out a politically correct parable about diversity.

Long and Blomquist, along with others, are excellent here, but Robert Fileta’s direction lags enough to make the play seem even longer.

“Pulp Unsophisticated” is Daniel T. Roberts’ attempt at politically incorrect humor in an infomercial about a new magazine aimed at hillbilly types, called White Trash Monthly. It looks like something taken off “Hee Haw,” and Jennifer Majdali’s uninventive direction doesn’t help.

The final piece, “The History of the World,” is a brief pantomime detailing tragic periods in the world’s history. It is entirely forgettable.

*

“To Be AND Not to Be,” Chance Theater, 5576 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 p.m. Ends Nov. 13. $7. (714) 777-3033. Running time: 2 hours.

Casey Long: Actor/Hoppy/Robert

Amy Blomquist: Writer/Winky

Karen Chapin: Director/Dr. Wackerstein/Dr. Belsenstrudle

Soo J. Kim: Hillary

Eileen Dreger: Sharlene

Aubrey Hartman: Cletus

*

A Spare Change Productions staging of five short plays by Kara Hartzler, Daniel T. Roberts, John Adreini, Martin E. Williams and Chris Ceballos, and James L. Secor. Directed by Aubrey Hartman, Jennifer Majdali, Robert Fileta, Chris Ceballos, and Amy Blomquist.