Love and Learn

Despite drunken hecklers, Cupid’s comic arrow sails smoothly at Shelterbelt
Steve Eskew, The Reader

Love frequently certifies a constant state of insanity. Surfacing from Shelterbelt Theatre’s traditional Valentine’s Day fare is a succession of 11 succulent vignettes just this side of the twilight zone. Thanks to the expertise of four adept directors and a lovefest of capable actors, From Shelterbelt With Love 6 provides considerably zesty entertainment.

The opening skit, “Scripted,” involving a couple who learn they can alter the direction of their humdrum lives by making deliberate choices, initiates a theme that’s prevalent throughout most of the vignettes: Take charge and change. Never be so pathetically predictable that you find yourself writing your diary two weeks in advance.

In another vignette, “Ask Roberto,” a local (and loco) television cook (Neil McGreevy) manages to transform an impotent husband (Jeremy Johnson) into a jealous Romeo via a sexy telephone conversation with the guy’s wife. We ultimately construe that the formerly celibate couple’s loins will be ablaze for days and that certain hosts of cooking shows sizzle as red-hot papas.

Continuing the theme of jealousy is “A Bunny’s Tale,” a clever yarn about a woman (Jennifer McGill) whose stuffed bunny springs to life, courtesy of the hilariously charming Andy Niess. The woman’s serious new squeeze (Johnson) finds himself competing with the rabbit, who, in the guise of “longtime companion,” has steadily evolved into a sort of glorified dildo.

The players survived an added challenge in performing this particular piece — projecting over a brood of female drunks — but the performers succeeded brilliantly in drowning them out.

By Act Two, the drunken hecklers had settled down (or passed out), enabling spectators to enjoy the hysterical “Zachery Zwillinger Eats People.” It turns out that Zwillinger (Brandon Rohe) possesses a sort of cannibalistic sweet tooth. And what could be tastier than Sugar Plum Fairy, played by the emphatically sexy Teri Fender?

Then there’s “Ariel,” about a nerd who gets lovey-dovey with an inflatable woman who might suffer from a slight case of P.M.S. Suffice it to say there’s a switch in this skit that gives a whole new meaning to sex-change syndromes. Circulating within the act lurks a recurring bit that features the screamingly funny McGreevy as a caveman engaging in prehistoric dating.

Unfortunately, even Anna Rebecca Kunkel was unable to save “Learning Experience at Elderhostel” due to Dave Podendorf’s low energy level. If he was attempting understatement, he succeeded only in revealing an impassive, implausible characterization.

Generally though, producer Tom Reardon has assembled a competent collection of talented playwrights, actors and directors. The sequencing of the vignettes reveals an exceptional asymmetrical balance with some particularly admirable contrasts and parallelisms. For example, the opening playlet contains a markedly diverse rhythm to the script immediately succeeding it; as for parallels, there’s that aforementioned repetition of characters who carry the torch for inanimate objects possessing the idiosyncrasy of metamorphosing into lively human entities.

Without upstaging anybody, Rohe outshines the shiniest in a considerably estimable ensemble. He’s hilarious in some skits, pensive and neurotic in others and totally believable in each of the four in which he appears.

Like all quality comedy, there lies within these vignettes an underlying social significance. The dominating thesis concerns the characters’ discovery that they possess the power to steer the direction of their love lives. Built within all the agony, ecstasy and madness, there’s a brutal and beautiful reality: The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know.

From Shelterbelt With Love 6 runs through Valentine‘s Day, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. at Shelterbelt Theatre, 3225 California St. Admission is $15/adults and $12/students, seniors and TAG members. For more info, call 341.2757 or visit shelterbelt.org.