THEATER: All In The Timing

Bellefonte Drama Club is to be congratulated on their choice of ALL IN THE TIMING to open the 2011-2012 season. Playwright David Ives has become famous for his ability to use words in unexpected ways and this series of one-act plays certainly is a good example.

Each delightful little mini-play gave a series of actors a chance to “star” and shine they did. The first play showed Elizabeth Catchmark and Kenny Laufer, meeting for the first time in “Sure Thing” and having the advantage of Cat Rokavec ringing a bell to start the conversation over if it was not headed in the right direction. It is indeed all in the timing.

I would love to tell you the plot of each play, but that would ruin the fun of the event and take up too much space. The only play that was slightly serious, was “Long Ago and Far Away” dealing with the question “What is reality?” Melissa Hilder, Sean Connelly, Max De Renzis, and Rebecca Busichio had a chance to do some surreal acting.

Needless to say, my favorite was the final play, “Words, Words, Words”. Brandon Lengyel, Tyler Wasson, and Julia Laufer are Swift, Milton, and Kafka, three chimpanzees who are being used in a study to see if they could write “Hamlet”. The actors were chimp-like in their mannerism and delivered their lines with perfect timing; it is all in the timing after all.

In fact most of these young thespians were very stage savvy. They were easy to hear and understand--an important thing in comedy. I also have to applaud the crew for an excellent set and fast set changes, a difficult thing when you are faced with six different plays.

Thank you directors Shaun McMurtrie and Elizabeth Heidt and a talented cast and crew for introducing playwright David Ives to our community.