In "The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage,"... the well-heeled spoof of British whodunits that opens the impeccably staged "Fill in the Blank!"at Hollywood's 2nd Stage Theatre, a murdered sexual predator's appetites are described as being so voracious that he not only slept on the sofa -- he slept with the sofa. Rounding out the extensive list of suspects, "Even the furniture wanted him dead."

(A)n inebriated shooting victim (Travis Schuldt) confronts his lingering existential doubts about his recently ventilated ventricles. Replete with exotic femme fatales(Johanna McKay and Thia Stephan), a cleric (Brian Carpenter) whose faith is as challenged as his effete pronunciation, and a trenchant trenchcoat-wearing sleuth (Harry Murphy), this lead-off parody is the evening's most conventional entry -- but under Daniel Henning's crisp direction, the consummate performances ease us gracefully into loftier flights of fancy.

Philip Brandes, 2/28/03

From BackStage West:

The nice thing about a smorgasbord is that there's a big variety on the table. You can eat a plateful of everything or pick and choose. That's also the nice thing about this theatrical smorgasbord of six of David Ives' comic one-acts. There's a startling variety of material and styles, all tasty and all tongue in cheek. And there's something here for everyone.

(The one-acts) are all charming, and stylishly and honestly played by the whole company, across the board able to keep a straight face even during the lengthy laughs.

T.H. McCulloh, 3/5/03

*
Back to Home Page