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LIVES OF THE SAINTS Send This Review to a Friend
David Ives can write very funny dialogue and conjure up daffy situations, as we can see in “Lives of the Saints,” a collection of six plays, really sketches, presented by Primary Stages in association with Jamie deRoy and Barry Feirstein. As often is the case with comedy material, the result is uneven. Some plays are funnier than others.
My favorite of the lot is “Life Signs,” in which a mother, declared dead by her doctor, suddenly starts to speak, startling her son and daughter-in-law. What emerges from her is a torrent of revelations about her life, often in vulgar terms that are shockers. The situation is hilarious.
I also enjoyed "The Goodness of Your Heart,” a silly but funny set-up with old friends conversing. When one asks his friend to buy him a new television set just out of friendship, tension erupts in amusing ways. The banter goes on too long, a frequent flaw in sketch material (think of “Saturday Night Live”) but you’ll find plenty of laughs in this one.
One sketch is extremely silly and overlong, with a repair man who falls in love with his washing machine. I liked another in which a visit to a psychiatrist involves double versions of the patent and the doctor.
Hats off to the five super-talented cast members who seem greater than their number and make the most of what Ives gives them to work with as they switch characters. The very funny team consists of Arnie Burton, Carson Elrod, Rick Holmes, Kelly Hutchinson and Liv Rooth. John Rando‘s skillful direction also maximizes what Ives has written. At the Duke on 42nd Street. Phone: 646-223-3010. Reviewed February 25, 2014.
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