Nothing is harder to pull off than an evening of pure absurdity and nonsense, but playwright David Ives manages it handsomely in these five light-hearted one-acts. In Sure Thing, Bill (Jon Bradford) is ineptly trying to pick up Betty (Erin Shull). But every time he makes a gaffe, a mysterious bell rings, giving him the chance for an instant do-over. Words, Words, Words is based on the old notion that if you put three chimpanzees in a room with three typewriters, they'll eventually type out Hamlet. Here, three chimps, played by Bradford, Shull, and Mike Park, are plugging away. They have managed to come up with Paradise Lost, but that doesn't count.
Variations on the Death of Trotsky presents a cockeyed view of Russian revolutionist Leon Trotsky (Elias McCabe), who was murdered in Mexico by his gardener, Ramon (Park). He may have a hatchet lodged in his head, but he doesn't know he's dead until Mrs. Trotsky (Kacey Camp) reads about it in the encyclopedia. In The Philadelphia, strange existential states are named after cities, and Mark (Park) is mired miserably in the title city, where no wish can ever be fulfilled, while his pal Al (Bradford) is happily ensconced in The Los Angeles, where nothing matters much. Meanwhile, their waitress (Shull) has spent most of the week stuck in The Cleveland.
Winsome Dawn (Camp) thinks she can cure her stutter if she learns a new language, so she resolves to study Utamundo, The Universal Language, as taught by Don (Bradford). The joke here is that most of the script is written in Utamundo, a made-up language of sound-alikes and nonsense. But for Don and Dawn, this proves to be the language of love.
Director Therese McLaughlin guides her actors with a light but sure hand, and they respond with charm and spontaneity. Bradford is engaging, skillful, and versatile in four diverse roles, and the rest of the cast offer fine support in an evening that's fast, funny, and deliciously wacky.
Presented by and at the Attic Theatre and Film Center, 5429 W. Washington Blvd., L.A. Tue.-Wed. 8 p.m. Jan. 30-Feb. 22. (323) 525-0600, ext. 2#. www.attictheatre.org.