THE BASICS: THE BOWLING PLAY, a farce by Buffalo playwright Kelly Copps, directed by Amy Jakiel, presented by Second Generation Theatre, starring Connor Graham, Alexandria Watts, Jacob Albarella, Nick Lama, Adam Yellen, Sofia Matlasz and Rick Lattimer. 2/23 – 3/10. Thu – Fri 7:30, Sat 8:00, at Shea’s Smith Theatre, 658 Main St, Buffalo. 716-847-0850 sheas.org (https://buff.ly/2UTy0U9)
Runtime: 90 minutes without intermission
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: Pete, a nice 40-ish fellow, divorced, once again trying the dating game after years of no second dates, has only met “The Girl” online. But he’s arranged to meet her one afternoon on familiar ground at the bowling alley where his team practices four evenings a week. However, since he told the other three guys that he couldn’t practice that evening, they’ve moved up practice to that same afternoon. At first, pissed at Pete for his subterfuge, they ultimately come around to try to help him out, including figuring out her name, which Pete has never actually learned.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION: There are, by my count, eight fine plays and musicals on stage right now in Buffalo as February moves into March, all deserving of an audience, and they are all selling tickets for the next two weekends, some a bit longer into next month. So why should THE BOWLING PLAY be your choice? Because it’s funny as hell, sweet, well-directed, wonderfully acted, and it’s produced by Second Generation where they do things right.
This is a sitcom, short for “situation comedy” which, when on stage in a theater is often called farce. Both sitcoms and farces are generally more dependent on the situation than on character development, there are misunderstandings and crossed wires, lots of quick exits and entrances, but one thing that makes THE BOWLING PLAY what I call a “sweet farce” is that we do get a peek into the character’s lives and there is a small amount of personal growth. So it’s more than an episode of, say, “The Three Stooges” although Pete’s (played by Connor Graham) three friends, while not engaged in physical slapstick, do engage in verbal slapstick, and their comic timing is impeccable.
About that. The friends are the somewhat clueless Buster (Jacob Albarella), the observant CJ (Nick Lama), and the impatient Ronnie (Adam Yellen), three of the finest comedic actors in town. Through years of honing their chops, coupled with I have no doubt some serious rehearsal time, it was all brought together with direction by one of Buffalo’s finest comediennes whose own comic timing is legendary, Amy Jakiel. The woman knows how to get a laugh.
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