Word: one-acts
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...ONE-ACT PLAYS are risky business. Instead of being short and well-focused, they often end up with overwrought plots and underdeveloped characters, trying to squeeze all of life's sorrows and tragedies into 45 minutes. The bad one-acts always seem to center on two or three character who reveal their every secret dream and sin at warp speed...
Thanks to Henley's sharp sense of dialogue and pacing, the oddness of Am I Blue is indeed very pleasing. Both John Polk and Ashbe are charming and intriguing characters. A couple of revelations from each do just fine at keeping this one-act interesting. Its utter lack of pretense and solemnity keeps it lively...
...SECOND play, What Time Is This Place?, never attains the vigor and spark of Am I Blue. Written by the artistic director of the Alley, this one-act is a '60s-meets-the-'80s drama. It tries too hard to say something meaningful about the latest generation gap and ends up being contrived...
...newspaper, he is headed to the West Coast in order to sell its current mainstream incarnation. Busily writing out proposals, he is joined rudely by Spence (George Saulnier), a self-proclaimed, 17-year-old "romantic drifter." What Time charts three hours of their relationship, and falls straight into the one-act trap of revealing every silly detail about the pair...
What makes the one-act watchable is its clever organization. Divided into 15 short segments, What Time never gets bogged down in one particular scene. Ultimately, though, the script's stilted language and puzzling plot twists make it a poor match for Am I Blue...