Troupe `Pieces' together hilarious night

by Robert Nesti
Thursday, March 27, 2003

``Bits and Pieces,'' original short works developed by Rough and Tumble Theatre, at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, through April 6.

Rough and Tumble, the Boston-based performance troupe, does much with very little.

In the past, the troupe has presented such shows as the clever ``Archimedes Abercrombie Makes a Movie,'' with dialogue composed of only the words ``blah, blah, blah.'' In others, such as the ambitious ``Adria,'' it interspersed shadow puppets with human characters to tell a wildly imaginative story of political intrigue.

The players' inventiveness is their strongest suit, and at their best, as they are in a number of sketches in their current effort, ``Bits and Pieces,'' their style of whimsy is highly infectious.

Take ``Pop Song Girl Is Late For Work,'' which opened a recent performance. (In keeping with the group's capricious nature, the order of the pieces changes from night to night.)

The droll comedienne Kristen Baker plays a woman who must run across town to get to her office; en route she comes across any number of humorous obstacles. Played at the breakneck speed of a Road Runner cartoon, it would make anyone who has been late for work laugh.

The evening's strongest piece is ``You Know Why You're Here,'' with words by William Donnelly. Something of a playlet, it slyly encapsulates the plot to a contemporary film romance about unrequited love. The lovesick Chris Cook yearns for the attention of his dream girl (played by Baker) only to lose her to a series of boorish men, sharply etched by George Saulnier III.

By far the funniest sketch is ``Day of the Giant Red Things.'' Set on a puppet-show stage, it features just two hands (the left of Tori Low and the right of Cook) that are transformed into a pair of spiderlike creatures that act out rituals you'd see on the Discovery Channel.

Another strong bit features Cook as the participant of a correspondence course for superheroes that offers to take him ``from zero to hero in nothing at all.''

Looking like she stepped out of a Modigliani painting, Low skillfully mimes her solo showcase, ironically titled ``Please Don't Watch This Piece.'' The broader comic skills of Irene Daly, the fifth member, are effectively utilized throughout.

That the capacity audience laughed at virtually everything indicated this troupe, under the direction of Dan Milstein, is on to something quite unique. Add catchy and clever original musical accompaniment by Fred Harrington, and you have a breezy, unpretentious evening that, thankfully, never pushes too hard to please.