One-Act Festival at the Phoenix Stage Company - My (Second) Review

The second night of the Phoenix Stage Company's One-Act Festival was made up of seven submitted plays. The same basic black stage was simply dressed for each new piece and my ever-willing companion and I had complimentary seats among the actors as they waited for their turn. I even got to sit next to "deck captain" Lori Poulin as she threw two props onstage.  

Ed Bassett reiterated the process of how the festival came to be for those among us who had not attended the previous evening's performance, as only he can. He shared the hosting duties with Val Vitalo.

SISTER GLADYS NEEDS YOUR HELP, which opened the evening, was written by Steve Gold of Jamesburg, NJ and was directed by Jerome Palmeri. It featured the strong comedic actress Heather Graham as Sister, Michael Leclaire as Jesus, and the director as an offstage voice. This was a very topical piece with some very funny lines.

*THE CHECKER GAME by Steve Warren of Austin, TX  was directed by Mr. Bassett. This was a very serious one-act with two Civil War soldiers played by the extremely gifted Chris Evans and Rob Richnavsky (who appeared in two other plays last evening.) Mr. Warren flew in to attend both performances of his play.

KAMASUTRA was submitted by Tom Coash of New Haven, CT and deftly directed by John Fabiani. This very funny yet touching piece featured Theresa Amico and Bill Wilson (who often appears at the Clockwork in Oakville) as a married couple celebrating their anniversary with a trip to India. The very strong actors made this a great end to the first half of the evening. Mr. Coash was unable to attend the performance because his full-length play,Veils recently won a nationwide competition and is in workshop in Maine.  

After intermission, the play written by an actor who has appeared in an impressive number of shows on the Phoenix Stage got the second half of the show off to a running start. Chris Evans is an eighth grade English teacher from Hamden who proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is also a talented playwright. He submitted *SURPRISE VISIT and directed it himself. This very touching one-act included Kristen Jacobsen as a mother, Emily Diedrich as her neighbor, Daniel R. Willey as her husband and Bailey Cummings as her son. Mr. Evans was so grateful to the PSC for giving him "this awesome opportunity" and was clearly pleased with the outcome.

THE WAVER by Anthony R Pezzula of Albany, NY  and directed by Donna Storms was another two-character piece. Brian Elser was excellent in the role of the mentally challenged but very endearing Jerry who waves at passing cars and Anthony Urillo interacted with him as Gene.

COUNTING SHEEP by Rishi Chowdhary of Morrisville, NC was also directed by Jerome Palmeri, and he doubled as an actor in the role of Duke. This featured a quirky group of safe crackers, with Ms. Graham as Prince and Mr. LeClaire as Earl. Best costumes of the night, some foul language, but very funny.  

The final piece of the evening was an added bonus called HOW NICE OF YOU TO ASK by Rich Ruben. There was much vying for the privilege of directing this one and John Fabiani came out on top; working with the wonderful Michelle Gotay and Mr. Wilson was worth the effort I am sure. The plot revolved around a survey taker interviewing a Mrs. Mavis Steinloaf (Ms. Gotay) about sex. The playwright of this very funny play hails from Portland Oregon and has written many one-act and full length plays.  

This was another great night of theater followed by a very nice reception where patrons mingled with playwrights and actors. The One-Act Festival continues tomorrow and Sunday. *Plays will be repeated on Sunday.