City Theatre

Summer Shorts trades its laid-back feeling for a more upscale experience, but the art still rocks.

BY CHRISTINE DOLEN
cdolen@MiamiHerald.com

From 'Donde esta Pedro Mano?' Photo by George Schiavone

A dozen years after its founders dreamed of their celebration of short plays, City Theatre's popular Summer Shorts Festival has changed venues and switched its vibe.

This year's fest moved from its longtime home at the Ring Theatre to the Carnival Center's Studio Theater, where the full festival experience -- 15 short plays grouped into two programs, with a break for tapas and drinks -- opened Saturday.

Verdict on the experience? Some gains (air-conditioning while you dine), some losses (less-than-abundant food, overpriced drinks). Verdict on the art? Not a priceless festival, but a strong and enjoyable one.

Nine versatile actors work all angles of an in-the-round (actually, in-the-rectangle) space, filling it with sobering, riotous, touching stories. Set designer Michael Amico surrounds the playing area with panels that look like abstract paintings; his wife, costume designer Erin Amico, evokes myriad eras and styles.
This year, Program B is arguably a little funnier, but tell that to the people screaming with laughter as they watch A's The Sons of Mickey and Foul Territory.

Program A begins with Sarah Hammond's 96 Stitches, an odd fable about a tailor (Stephen Trovillion), his wife (Elizabeth Dimon) and the demanding diva (Kameshia Duncan) who dominates their lives. Jessica Lind's What I Learned From Grizzly Bears features a playful young woman (Irene Adjan) whose exchanges with a man (Antonio Amadeo) become increasingly disturbing.

A short piece from this year's Humana Festival, Rolin Jones' Ron Bobby Had Too Big a Heart, lets director Paul Tei and two actresses (Ceci Fernandez and Duncan) mine the disturbingly hilarious juxtaposition of lost teen innocence and violence. William Orem's Suspension, in which two teen boys (Bechir Sylvain and Erik Fabregat) are just hanging out, has a beautiful speech in which Sylvain's character imagines himself at one with the rain. Susan Westfall's Uprising turns on a confrontation between another teen (Fernandez) and her exasperated mother (Dimon), though it bogs down in as it tries to link the young woman's spirit to that of her great-grandmother (Adjan).

Jim Fitzmorris' The Sons of Mickey, an uproariously twisted piece about Disney-besotted man vs. the humor-challenged minions of the Mouse, and Craig Wright's Foul Territory, about a gay guy whose bloodied face is a baseball magnet, both star Tom Wahl, whose hilarious performances are the high points of Program A.

Program B belongs to Trovillion and Fabregat. Trovillion shines in the world premiere of Joshua James' Ambivalent, about a burned-out guy who chooses to share with fellow passengers his premonition that the plane they're waiting to board is going to crash; he's also a stitch in another world premiere, Michael McKeever's Wizard of Oz riff SPLAT!, as a miffed Munchkin named Larry. Fabregat is all delicious macho cheesiness in ¿Donde está Pedro Mano?, a telenovela parody that isn't quite as funny as playwright Montserrat Mendez thinks it is.

Marco Ramirez' I Am Not Batman, a prize-winner from the Humana Festival, is both dynamic (drummer Fabregat adds knowing texture) and moving as Sylvain plays a boy who uses fantasy to escape the sorrows of his life. Rinne Groff's Practicing and Kent Brown's Playtime are less-memorable explorations of the conflicts of kids and parents. In John Walch's Angle of Attack, a dyslexic fan of body art (Fabregat) tries to deal with the brutal feedback of two pals. And Hammond's Flour Cloud, set in the moments following an explosion at a bakery, is really a post-9/11 look at the focus-sharpening aftermath of tragedy.

IF YOU GO

What: Summer Shorts, Program A (Foul Territory by Craig Wright, Uprising by Susan Westfall, Ron Bobby Had Too Big a Heart by Rolin Jones, Suspension by William Orem, 96 Stitches by Sarah Hammond, What I Learned from Grizzly Bears by Jessica Lind, The Sons of Mickey by Jim Fitzmorris) and Program B (Ambivalent by Joshua James, Practicing by Rinne Groff, Donde está Pedro Mano? by Montserrat Mendez, Angle of Attack by John Walch, Playtime by Kent R. Brown, Flour Cloud by Sarah Hammond, I Am Not Batman by Marco Ramirez, Splat! by Michael McKeever)

Where: Studio Theater, Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, through July 8 (moves to Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale, July 12-15)

When: Program A is 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; Program B is 7:30 p.m. Friday, 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $37 per program, plus $15 for dining option (Saturday opening at Carnival Center $120 for both programs plus dining; July 14 opening at Broward Center $90). Discounts for students, seniors, groups and full festival package.

Info:www.citytheatre.com, Miami tickets at 305-949-6722 or www.carnivalcenter.org, Fort Lauderdale tickets at 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org