Eight stories lead to varied results in And Toto too’s production Edith Weiss collection of short plays.

And Toto too’s new show at the Buntport Theater promises an evening of Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex. And, for the most part, it delivers.

Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex is a series of eight sketches by Colorado actor and playwright Edith Weiss. Weiss appears as a therapist announcing that we will be hearing about some of the stories from her patients but assuring the audience that the show will not be interactive nor immersive – mostly. Weiss then acts as narrator, introducing each sketch, along with some more topical and political bits of humor including commentary about bumper stickers. A cast of four ably presents the scenes guided by director and ATT Producing Artistic Director Susan Lyles.

It’s not easy to develop and give life to characters in short 10-15 minute plays, but the experienced cast manages to do just that.

Edith Weiss | Photo: Brian Landis Folkins

An octet of comedy

The program does not identify the sketches by name, so the titles are mine. The first piece, “Bench of Destiny,” is a highlight of the evening and features a character (Meredith Young) being told by the “Designator’s Assistant” (Jeff Jesmer), that she is to be reincarnated to live as a human and asking whether she can live as some other creature. Sharp, direct and playful, the sketch captures a sense of what is good and what is not so good about lives of humans and other living creatures.

Particularly funny and insightful is “Suicide Hotline” featuring Young as Tiffany, a phone counselor taking calls on her first day. Chris Kendall plays David, an older person, who phones the hotline. The call is not what you expect, and ends up being the perfect call for both of them. Young and Kendall’s characters were well-defined with clear motivations and expert exasperations.

Young and Sofia Badia banter back and forth in “My Fiance’s Been Kidnapped,” which had potentially the funniest and most dramatic ending of any sketch.

“Mediocre Sex” – or at least that’s how Weiss introduces the final play – features a woman (Badia) who comes home after a sexual encounter and discusses sex and love with a cricket (Jesmer). This one has the sweetest ending and a fine finish to the evening.

Less successful was “Shakespeare in Jeopardy,” featuring Ophelia from Hamlet (Jesmer), Tamora from Titus Andronicus (Young) and Mistress Quickly from Henry IV (Badia) competing in a game show hosted by Kendall. The action is set up to act as commentary on how women were presented by Shakespeare. But while humorous, the piece simply exaggerates the characteristics provided by Shakespeare, so that any broader point was subtle and not fierce.

“PC Storytime” has Jesmer playing “Father Gander” trying to tell the story of Snow White. He is constantly interrupted by children — played by Young and Kendall — and teacher Badia to have him correct perceived objectionable names. The revisions to the story demanded by the children and teacher were less creative and new to me than in other plays addressing the same topic. However, the audience rewarded this one with plenty of lauhgs.

“Pretentious Art” finds Kendall again playing a television host and Badia pointedly playing an artist named Syringe. This one was fine, if not memorable.

One miss was “God and Saint Laurence,” in part because the theology discussed didn’t ring true. It wasn’t offensive, but its discussion of salvation seemed superficial and directed at easy targets.

The framing of these sketches to be stories from therapy is an excellent premise, but Weiss doesn’t fully commit to that framing. I had difficulty seeing a through-line or connection for the eight sketches and I left still puzzled about what was the unifying theme. Yet, there is enough provocative material in the individual sketches to inspire meaningful discussion about after the show.

Jeff Jesmer | Photo: Brian Landis Folkins

Strong cast

Whatever issues I had with the individual scripts were generally compensated for by the very professional and capable cast. The actors all produced well-rounded individuals for the short scenes, heightening Weiss’ humor because of their belief in and commitment to their characters. They were all excellent and equally deserving of praise.

Director Lyles with set/sound designer Darren Smith used the Buntport Theater black box to lay out the sets for each individual sketch so that transition times were minimal. Each set would be peeled off to focus on the next smaller set while Weiss’ therapist was commenting on the just-concluded sketch and introducing the next bit. It was admirable that despite the short transition time, no actor was late from a costume change.  As a result, the show’s 80-minute run time never dragged.

Given the framework, Weiss could easily reshape and refine her play, using audience reaction to keep what works and what does not work. For me, this felt more like a night at a comedy club with different acts – some hits, some misses, some laughs, some smirks, but no yawns.