Conrad Cady, Tyler Null, Alicia von Kugelgen and Simon Patton are excellent in Masquers Playhouse’s production of Improbable Fiction.” (Mike Padua via Bay City News)
By WOODY WEINGARTEN
Arnold, a disoriented wannabe writer, suddenly finds several hunters in his living room trolling for aliens from outer space in Masquers Playhouse’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Improbable Fiction” onstage in Point Richmond.
Played deftly by C. Conrad Cady, Arnold’s jumpy, overheated befuddlement hit the audience’s collective funny-bone so hard and long, their laughter drowned out more than a few of the next lines.
The first act of this farce — about a do-it-yourself writer’s group whose members talk more about writing than doing it — starts slowly. While audiences may momentarily worry about reacting well to the British humor, they should watch out: the pace quickly becomes frenetic. Then, Act 2 incites laughter immediately. With physical and verbal slapstick antics and quick-change costuming, it demands out-loud laughs as Arnold finds himself in the middle of a collaborative story.
Also very funny are Simon Patton as Brevis, who writes the book for musicals and whose comic crabbiness is so inflated it surpasses Lewis Black’s nasty/funny attitude; Tyler Null as Clem, who garbles one word after another, concocts conspiracy stories and adopts a noir detective persona as an alter ego; and Anna Kosiarek as Vivvi, a horny woman whose hangdog expressions are reminiscent of Stan Laurel.
None of the members, however, have a greater burning desire to finish their projects than Grace (played by Alicia von Kugelgen), who for years has been futilely trying to write a kids’ book about Doblin the Goblin to accompany her drawings.
Indeed, only Arnold has completed anything, and that’s been in the form of instruction manuals.
Masquers Playhouse, an amazing intimate community theater, consistently stages musicals and plays like this 2 ¼-quarter hour comedy that’s so tightly directed by Angela Mason. Here, the actors are superb, even when being intentionally hammy.
Equally excellent are the light and sound design by Michael O’Brien and dazzling, imaginative costumes by Ava Byrd.
Sir Alan Ayckbourn improbably has written and produced more than 90 plays, 10 of which have landed on Broadway, but he spends the bulk of his time directing. At a Masquers opening-week matinee, his delightful “Improbable Fiction” received an almost unanimous standing ovation. It was merited.
“Improbable Fiction” continues through March 1 at Masquers’ Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15 to $35 at masquers.org.
This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http://www.baycitynews.org/contact/.
Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.comand https://vitalitypress.com. His books include Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, aimed at male caregivers; MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that he co-authored with his then 8-year-old granddaughter.
