It's All Relative

by Toby Zinman

To celebrate their 30th anniversary, PL&T closes their season with a festival of one-acts — some as short as 15 minutes, some as long as an hour, some with big casts, some monologues. If you see the whole event, you'll see 10 plays. Ten plays is a lot of plays for one evening, even if you have the outdoor barbecue buffet in the middle.

The theme that links them all is family — the changing nature of family as people mix and match themselves in new and unconventional ways. But instead of being a celebration of family, most of these plays are grim portraits of unhappy, lonely, intolerant people. Making matters worse is that many of the directors have adopted smug suburban attitudes by playing the misery for laughs, an attitude echoed by some of the actors, who seem to be playing stereotypes rather than people.

Here's the lineup:

Curtain Warmers: "Waking Women," by Cassandra Medley, uses a pile of African-American cliches in a monologue about a condolence call that turns into gossip-mongering. "The Yellow Line," by Kira Obolensky, is about a mismatched bride and groom after their wedding. "The Moon Please," by Diana Son (Stop Kiss), concerns a couple with a baby and no babysitter: He's got an interview, she's got a big client meeting on her first day back after maternity leave. Her meeting is in the World Trade Center, and the date is 9/11. "The Problem," A.R. Gurney's arch drama about a couple and their sex life, succeeds with a never-fail surprise ending.

Main Event: Edwin Sanchez's "POPS" deals with a young man whose father loved I Love Lucy. Overacted, sentimental and unfunny. "The Mourning Show," by Louis Lippa, is a muddled anti-war play about unthinking patriotism. "The Cuban Swimmer," by Milcha Sanchez-Scott, is a fierce, metaphorical play about a young woman swimming from Cuba to the United States which has been diluted here into a family sitcom. "How We Talk in South Boston," by David Lindsay-Abaire (Fuddy Meers), is the only genuinely radical play in the bunch — hilariously politically incorrect and goofily absurdist. In "July 7, 1994," by Donald Margulies (Sight Unseen), the O.J. trial becomes the emblem of all violence against women and racial bias. Kathryn Petersen turns in a fine performance as an overwhelmed inner-city physician.

Late Night: "Iron Kisses" is a commissioned new play by James Still (He Held Me Grand) about a couple in America's heartland trying to understand their gay son's wedding and their married daughter's divorce. Tedious, repetitive and gimmicky.

30 FEST Through July 24, People's Light & Theatre Co., 39 Conestoga Rd, Malvern, 610-644-3500