PHOTOS
Jessica Lucas
I have always thought of an evening of short plays as an appetizer platter for the audio and visual senses. Sometimes the selection ends up being cheesy, boring and heavy, like a plate full of deep-fried everything. But sometimes the spread is much more interesting, flavorful, and light, an array of gourmet treats.
Scranton Public Theater's current production of Short Works From the Big Guy is one such evening of short plays, all by local poet/actor/playwright K.K. Gordon. The four plays plus a short poetry interlude make for one very interesting sampling for the theater palate.
The first half of the evening opens with "Flesh Eaters from Hyde Park" staring Sam Falbo and Shayla Barrett as friends on an all-expenses-paid trip to London. The story is a verbal slideshow of a trip that playwright Gordon actually took many years ago. The chemistry between the two actors paired with Gordon's quick dialogue makes for a short and sweet opener that is just silly enough to pave the way for the next selection, "Finding the Inner Chuck Norris."
Silly, but never stupid, this scene between friends Eric (Falbo) and Gunter (Chris Eibach) was so well written, it almost made me feel like I was watching a conversation through someone's living room window rather than watching a play in a theater.
"Escatology or That Night on Skid Row" was the closer for Act 1, and was a little deeper than the previous two. Though funny and even frightening at parts, there were also scenes that didn't quite seem to fit the overall goal of the piece.
After a brief intermission, Gordon read some of his own poetry, keeping with the lighter themes of the evening and then immediately segued into the evening's final piece "Keeping Up with Jones Very," which is a play mostly about one grown man's inability to get rid of a couple imaginary friends which, really makes this the most hilarious and ridiculous selection of the night.
Falbo, who graced the stage with his acting talent in three of the four shorts and directed the one he did not appear in, is a natural on stage. He created an instant easy rapport with anyone he shared the stage with; my favorite being his interaction with his imaginary buddies in "Keeping Up with Jones Very."
Gordon, whose incredibly humble demeanor is in sharp contrast to his towering size and presence, should be commended on a gift for playwriting that succeeded in creating a very enjoyable evening at the Olde Brick Theater that was much more like a gourmet spread than a deep fried appetizer platter.