Laugh it up in Lafayette

'Time Flies' set to put audiences in stitches

By Julie Baxter, Enterprise Staff Writer
May 18, 2005

There's more to getting a laugh than delivering a funny line.

"Comedy is a very different kind of challenge, the key is finding the reality in it. If you simply play things for laughs, you can ultimately fall flat," said Madge Montgomery, artistic director for the Lafayette Community Players.

Montgomery is putting her theory to the test in "Time Flies," the Players' production of six short plays by David Ives.

In directing "The Universal Language," Montgomery is striving to help actors and audiences make real-world connections to the humor and circumstances of Ives' work. It doesn't hurt that Ives is nothing short of wordsmith.

"We kind of refer to him as the language wizard," Montgomery said of the contemporary playwright. "Within all of his plays, there's always some interesting use of language."

Her portion of the show is a shining example of such uses.

"The Universal Language" is the love story of Dawn, a young woman with a stutter, and Don, the creator and teacher of the language Unamunda.

"It's different than any other play I've directed," said Montgomery, whose community theater resume stretches years back. "Seventy-five percent of it is not in English."

The fictitious language of Unamunda is built upon English but makes wild connections, she said, such as "John Cleese," which means "English" in the made-up tongue. Those connections, though absurd, make the dialogue entertaining and easy to follow, Montgomery said.

Vonalda Utterback, who is directing another segment of the show, said Ives' true gift is delighting audiences.

"I'm very excited for this show," said Utterback, who stumbled upon Ives' genius after accidentally ordering a compilation of his plays on Amazon.com.

"The way I look at theater is I want to enjoy what I'm doing. I think theater with a message has a definite purpose ... but as far as my involvement, I really want to have fun and make sure the audience had a smile on their faces. I think that's what David Ives can do."

Utterback is directing "Soap Opera," the tale of a washing-machine repairman who falls in love with a picture-perfect washer and is torn about whether to tell his girlfriend of his blossoming affection. She chose the piece on pure entertainment value.

"This is the one I was interested in because it's just so much fun," Utterback said.

But, in nearly the same breath, she also gushes about all six of the short plays.

"I find humor in all of the pieces," Utterback said. "I'm just in love with David Ives."

She's also in love with community theater, specifically the Lafayette Community Players. You might call the group, which staged its first production in the historic Mary Miller Theater in 1997, the little theater company that could, Montgomery said.

"LCP is unique in the amount of passion and love people have for the group," she said. "People are really attached to it and that has made it survive."

Not just survive, but thrive.

"Each year we get better," Montgomery said. "People are starting to take notice."

******

The plays

"Time Flies" features six short plays by David Ives. They are:

• "Mere Mortals" — eavesdrop on a lunch hour on a girder 50 stories above the street as three construction workers share amazing secrets of their pasts.

• "Soap Opera" — a washing-machine repair man falls in love with a dream machine but isn't sure if he should tell his girlfriend about his newfound passion.

• "Words, Words, Words" — recalls the philosophical adage that three monkeys typing into infinity will sooner or later produce "Hamlet" and asks: What would monkeys talk about on their typewriters?

• "The Universal Language" — the story of a girl with a stutter and a boy who created a new language and the lessons that send them into a display of verbal pyrotechnics and true love.

• "Sure Thing" — Two people meet in a café and find their way through a conversational mine field as an off-stage bell interrupts their false starts, gaffes and faux pas on the way to falling in love.

• "The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage" — a body on the carpet, three ridiculous suspects and a bumbling Scotland Yard detective solve philosophical quandaries as they investigate who killed Jeremy Thumpington-Fffienes.