{"id":111071,"date":"2026-02-12T19:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=111071"},"modified":"2026-02-12T19:13:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:13:47","slug":"masquers-playhouses-improbable-fiction-hits-funny-bone-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/masquers-playhouses-improbable-fiction-hits-funny-bone-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"Masquers Playhouse\u2019s \u2018Improbable Fiction\u2019 hits funny bone hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"<\/strong>Conrad Cady, Tyler Null, Alicia von\u00a0Kugelgen and Simon Patton\u00a0are\u00a0excellent\u00a0in Masquers Playhouse\u2019s production of Improbable Fiction.\u201d (Mike Padua via Bay City News)\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By WOODY WEINGARTEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arnold, a disoriented wannabe writer, suddenly finds several hunters in his living room trolling for aliens from outer space in Masquers Playhouse\u2019s production of Alan Ayckbourn\u2019s \u201cImprobable Fiction\u201d onstage in Point Richmond.<\/p>\n

Played\u00a0deftly\u00a0by C. Conrad\u00a0Cady,\u00a0Arnold\u2019s\u00a0jumpy, overheated befuddlement\u00a0hit\u00a0the audience\u2019s collective funny-bone so hard and\u00a0long,\u00a0their\u00a0laughter drowned\u00a0out\u00a0more than a few\u00a0of\u00a0the next\u00a0lines.<\/p>\n

The first act of this farce \u2014 about a do-it-yourself writer\u2019s group whose members talk more about writing than doing it \u2014 starts slowly.\u00a0While audiences may\u00a0momentarily worry\u00a0about\u00a0reacting\u00a0well to the British humor,\u00a0they should\u00a0watch out: the\u00a0pace quickly becomes frenetic.\u00a0Then,\u00a0Act\u00a02\u00a0incites\u00a0laughter\u00a0immediately. With physical\u00a0and\u00a0verbal slapstick antics and quick-change costuming, it demands\u00a0out-loud\u00a0laughs\u00a0as Arnold finds himself in the middle of a collaborative story.<\/p>\n

Also very funny\u00a0are Simon Patton as Brevis, who writes the book for musicals and whose comic crabbiness is so inflated it surpasses Lewis Black\u2019s 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\u00a0Kosiarek\u00a0as\u00a0Vivvi, a horny woman whose hangdog expressions\u00a0are reminiscent of\u00a0Stan Laurel.<\/p>\n

None of the members, however, have a greater burning desire to finish\u00a0their\u00a0projects\u00a0than Grace (played by Alicia von\u00a0Kugelgen), who for years has been futilely trying to write a kids\u2019 book about Doblin the Goblin to\u00a0accompany\u00a0her drawings.<\/p>\n

Indeed, only Arnold has completed anything,\u00a0and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0been in the form of instruction manuals.<\/p>\n

Masquers Playhouse,\u00a0an amazing intimate community theater,\u00a0consistently stages musicals and plays\u00a0like this 2 \u00bc-quarter hour comedy\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0so tightly directed by\u00a0Angela Mason.\u00a0Here, the\u00a0actors\u00a0are superb,\u00a0even\u00a0when\u00a0being\u00a0intentionally hammy.<\/p>\n

Equally excellent are the light and sound design\u00a0by\u00a0Michael O\u2019Brien and\u00a0dazzling, imaginative costumes by\u00a0Ava Byrd.<\/p>\n

Sir Alan\u00a0Ayckbourn\u00a0improbably\u00a0has written and produced more than 90 plays, 10 of which have landed on Broadway, but he spends the bulk of his time directing.\u00a0At a Masquers\u00a0opening-week\u00a0matinee,\u00a0his\u00a0delightful\u00a0\u201cImprobable Fiction\u201d\u00a0received an almost unanimous\u00a0standing ovation. It was merited.<\/p>\n

\u201cImprobable Fiction\u201d continues through March 1 at\u00a0Masquers\u2019 Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond.\u00a0Tickets\u00a0are\u00a0$15 to $35\u00a0at\u00a0masquers.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This article was first published on\u00a0LocalNewsMatters.org<\/a>,<\/em> a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http:\/\/www.baycitynews.org\/contact\/<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sherwood \u201cWoody\u201d Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>voodee@sbcglobal.net<\/a><\/strong> or on his websites, <\/strong><\/em>https:\/\/woodyweingarten.com<\/a><\/strong>and\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>https:\/\/vitalitypress.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong> His books include Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner\u2019s breast cancer, aimed at <\/strong><\/em>male caregivers;\u00a0MysteryDates \u2014 How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and\u00a0Grampy 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conrad Cady, Tyler Null, Alicia von\u00a0Kugelgen and Simon Patton\u00a0are\u00a0excellent\u00a0in Masquers Playhouse\u2019s production of Improbable Fiction.\u201d (Mike Padua via Bay City News)\u00a0 By WOODY WEINGARTEN Arnold, a disoriented wannabe writer, suddenly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":4.6,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-111071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"