In the one-act evening The Customer is Always Right, an emphasis on couples making comedy began with Larry Parr’s imagining a garage sale held by a widow to finally clean out her house years after her husband’s death. A buyer decides on a dusty teapot, but the seller backs out when she realizes what the contents are. The women (Skyla Luckey and Mary Jo Johnson) finally get together to use them in a way that explains the play’s title, “A Line of Malarky.” Imaginatively cute!
Ren Pearson and Delia Revard represent a young man trying to reach and then get Customer Service so he can cancel at least part of a TV subscription. The rep ends up taking him in--but not in the way he expected. Both young actors also star in another sketch by Philip W. Hall, “No Sugar.” It takes him through frustration trying to get a sugarless cup of coffee from the sassy waitress. Key lime pie also represents a frustration. The comic incidents were quite recognizable and know no age.
”Penitents,” a premiere and the longest play in the series, is Jack Gilhooley’s take on what might happen in a confessional in contemporary times. Jeremy Guerrero comes into a darkened booth as a routine, but with a woman replacing the priest he’s used to, he’s stunned. There’s a special go-round between him and Alison Prouty’s nun, because they used to be lovers. If the church is ready for female priests, might it not frown on them getting together with lovers? With able players, it’s a satire that may offend some and entertain others. Perhaps a bit too extended, though mostly clever.
”Thanks for the Memories” finds an elderly couple (perfect Chuck Conlon and Jenny Aldrich Walker) finding a bench on which to chat, though both seem to have forgotten when they were there last or came from their hotel. It’s not long before she’s “feeling frisky” and he’s willing--but is he able? How can he be? They find Dave Downer’s sympathetic Police Officer who provides all the answers for them. This play seemed to be the hilarious hit of the evening. Old fashioned funny!
