Seven theater students evoke laughter and applause

The play “All in the Timing” lived up to it’s name as it expressed how important timing is through six, short comedic plays.

San Jose City College’s Studio Theater Production class performed David Ives’ play “All in the Timing” from Nov. 8 to Nov. 16.

The first act was “Sure Thing,” one of the more comedic and relatable of the six acts.

A man played by DaQuane Fox met a woman, played by Casey Jane Satterlund, at a restaurant.

Every time one of the two said something that turned the other off, a bell would ring and undo the last spoken comment.

The funnier moments of this act were when a character would state something, often unfavorable, about themselves and the bell would ring, undoing their comment.

“It was difficult because of all the physicality and physical humor,” said Satterlund, 23, undeclared major. Everytime the bell rang, erasing the previous comment, the two snapped back into the positions they were in before the comment was said.

The two actors were also both in the act “The Universal Language,” in which Satterlund played Dawn, a woman with a stutter who attended a class to learn a language that could be understood worldwide.

Dawn was taught by Professor Don, played by Fox.

This story contained the most emotional elements out of all the acts, as Dawn expressed the struggle of being unable to communicate with her stutter.

By the end, Don confessed that the class was a fraud to get money. The two fell in love as Satterlund’s character developed a closeness after being taught the made-up language.

For audiences, it was difficult to understand the made-up language, but it did not get in the way of feeling the emotions.

“It was difficult learning the lines,” said Fox, 19, journalism major. “I just finalized my lines a week before the first performance.”

“Words, Words, words,” the second act, was the low point of the play. Actresses Angel Ramirez, Hanh Lam and Caitlin Shriner played monkeys that were forced to write “Hamlet.”

There were some funny lines, but the concept was odd.

“It was hard to act like monkeys while focusing on our lines,” said Lam, 23, theater arts major.

Another act that was unclear was “Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread.” Cody MowBray played Philip Glass, who was dumped by the character “Woman 1” played by Maria Hoenig.

Spoken word poetry, while appearing to be in an unconscious state, filled the majority of this act.

“Variations on the Death of Trotsky” featured Mrs. Trotsky, played by Maria Hoenig, explaining to her husband, that he was dead after having an ax smashed, but not “buried,” into his skull.

Angel Ramirez plays the clueless comedic Trotsky, who wears a wig with a huge ax sticking out of it.

The highlight of the whole production was the act “The Philadelphia.” Mark, played by Caitlin Shriner, was having problems with not getting anything he requested. Al, played by Lam explained he was metaphysically living in Philadelphia.

Al explained to Mark in Philadelphia you could not directly ask for something, such as a cheese steak, or else they would not have it.

The majority of the cast, including Lam, Shriner, Satterlund and Hoenig, said that “The Philadelphia” was one of their favorite acts from the six they performed.

This act was full of humor as Shriner’s character tried ordering her food in the least direct way. Instead of asking for the waitress, Mark rudely yelled at her to get his order.

Mark then asked for everything that the restaurant did not carry until the waitress got annoyed and wrote down what Mark secretly wanted.

Lam’s accent got in the way of understanding some of the lines, but also helped her emote lines that carried the majority of the humor.

“My favorite part is when Hanh’s character explodes and realizes she’s in Philadelphia,” said Ramirez, 20, theater major.
American playwright David Ives premiered this play in 1993.

Before the play the director and professor, Dennis Sloan, promoted the school’s dance concert Nov. 21 through 23 and the next play, “Reckless,” which will be performed next April.

The cast said moving forward, it would benefit them to have more time to prepare, more advertising to get a larger audience, and a tech crew.

The cast were all engaging and professional while they produced a show that kept the audience’s attention and demanded laughter.

This was better than many other college productions, but there was still room for improvement. The actors took on many different personalities effectively and seemed to remember their lines well. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!