Rich Orloff is a very funny writer, and his HA! [sic], now at the Jewel Box Theater on West 36th Street, gives us a very entertaining evening: three stylistically different comedic ventures. The first, Oedi,is a straight-out farce mocking the Oedipus legend, full of laughs, with an absurdist flair, including a hilarious Gerianne Raphael as Oedipus’ Jewish mother/wife. Oedipus-schmedipus -- as long as he loves his mother!
The second, The News from St. Petersburg, with its gently mocking humor, is set in 1905. Aristocrats and their servants receive news that there was a march on the Palace, and the Czar has been deposed, changing the way the servants relate to their masters. Of course, the rumor is twelve years early, and as it unwinds, a kind of reality arrives.
The third, The Whole Shebang, gives us God, who, for his final graduation project, has created Earth and its Beings. His successes and failures are recounted. This take-off has no boundaries as it satirizes everything. The entire talented cast, playing different parts in each play, is terrific, including Evan Thompson, Jarel Davidow, Mike Smith Rivera, Anne Fizzard and Raphael. Ric Sechrest has directed with zip and great comic timing, and all other departments do a fine job in this evening filled with laughs, chuckles, and an occasional guffaw.
