Pick Of The Vine ups the quirky a bit too much in 2019, the main reason why, for this reviewer at least, only about half of Little Fish Theatre’s annual collection of “This Year’s Best Short Plays” hit the mark the way almost all of last year’s did.

 Fortunately, those that do—the production-opener and those that conclude an evening of nine playlets—are quite good indeed.

Frozen Foods, by Ian August, directed by Cinthia Nava-Palmer, has housewife Holly Baker-Kreiswirth melting down at the realization that she could have saved twelve dollars had she but waited a week to buy four frozen dinners for the price of one, with Rachel Levy as the captive victim of her fellow shopper’s weirdly, wonderfully choreographed breakdown.

Canvas, by Andrew Heinrich, directed by Richard Perloff, the collection’s sole dramatic offering (I wish there were more like it), features Susie McCarthy as the grieving mother of an American soldier recently killed in action who finds herself outraged by the military jacket worn by a young panhandler (Ryan Knight) who did not earn it.

Beatrix Potter Must Die!, by Patrick Gabridge, directed by James Rice, imagines what might have happened if a farmer (Don Schlossman) plagued by out-of-control bunnies had time-traveled back to turn-of-the-20th-century England to give the author of Peter Rabbit (Baker-Kreiswith) a piece of his mind.

 Old Aquatics, by Steven Korbar, directed by Bill Wolski, stars Levy as a gleefully inebriated New Year’s Eve reveler none too happy about the holiday season’s end and Daniel Tennant as the never-ever-reveled free-ride driver whose services she enlists to alternately hilarious and touching effect.

The five remaining playlets aren’t nearly as successful, at least in this reviewer’s eyes.

 The Sum Of Your Experience, by Trance Crawford, directed by Perloff. has apparent mugger Perry Shields holding up angry businessman Schlossman, not for money, but for his “experiences,” a Twilight Zone-style premise I just didn’t take to.

My Scale Is Lying To Me, by Scott Mullen, directed by Wolski, stars Baker-Kreiswirth, McCarthy, and Kimberly Patterson as three shoppers who discover that a certain Weight Watcher’s scale reveals not their weight but some unwanted truths about their lives. It’s cute, but like the one that precedes it, too off-the-wall for my tastes.

 The C Word, by Niki Hatzidis, directed by Rice, features Knight as a man attempting to calm down a hysterical woman (Levy) who might have “the C word”—an attempt at dark comedy more grating than gratifying.

The Last Bride Of Ansbruk Village, by Aleks Merilo, directed by Nava-Palmer, has Eastern Europeans Baker-Kreiswirth and Tennant tying the knot long-distance, a WWII-era serio-comic playlet-with-a-twist that didn’t quite work for me. (Knight, Patterson, Schlossman, and Shields also star.)

Pick Of Levine, by Mark Harvey Levine, directed by Wolski, is its own mini-one-act-festival of five, some lasting only seconds and therefore too slight to make any sort of lasting impression save one delightfully wacky fish story. (The entire cast is featured in this one.)

 As an acting showcase, Pick Of The Vine 2019 works quite terrifically indeed, each of its talented eight playing multiple roles to memorable effect.

 Best-in-show honors go to Levy for her banshee-shrieking housewife and a soused reveler that defies playing-drunk clichés.

This year’s Pick Of The Vine once again features an outwardly simple, secretly wondrous set, this time by scenic designer Chris Beyries with ample help from properties designer Baker-Kreiswirth, some terrific lighting design choices by Charlotte Tierney and sound design selections by Baker-Kreiswirth and Nava-Palmer, and a bevy of delightful modern and period costumes by Rebecca Roth.

Pick Of The Vine 2019 is produced by Baker-Kreiswirth, Stephanie Coltrin, and Wolski. Aileen Kamoshita is stage manager.

 Whether or not you find this year’s Pick Of The Vine 2019 up to last year’s standards, at the very least it offers playwrights both aspiring and established the chance to strut their latest short stuff. Besides, it’s hard to imagine a better showcase for Little Fish Theatre ensemble members to demonstrate talent and versatility in spades.

Little Fish Theatre, 777 Centre St. San Pedro.
www.littlefishtheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
January 19, 2019

Tags: Little Fish Theatre, Los Angeles Theater Review