One doesn't typically

hear the phrases "sophisticated comedy" and "high school

students" together very often, but they will this weekend when Starr's

Mill presents David Ives' "All in the Timing" at the McIntosh

Black Box Theatre on Wedneday and Thursday, Nov. 5 and 6.

"All in the Timing"

features six vignettes. While each vignette stands on it's own, there

is an underlying theme of different types of timing in each story. For

instance, "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread,' deals with musical

timing and "Variations on the Death of Trotsky" deals with life

on a time line. The other similarity is that each piece is sharply written

and cleverly delivered by the cast of 17 advanced drama students from

Starr's Mill.

"The kids love it,"

said Director David Spearman. "They are having a great time with

it." The process for the students began with research because much

of the humor in the play is, well, sophisticated. Cast members in the

Trotsky piece needed to know who Trotsky was and how he died to appreciate

the humor, just as the cat of the Philip Glass piece needed to listen

to Glass' work to understand why the piece was not only accurate

but also very clever and funny. While Spearman feels that the audience

will need to be well-read to get all of the humor, he also states that

every form of comedy is well represented in the play.

Because there are six pieces

and each cast member appears in only one vignette, they each got to dig

deep into their roles and gain a better understanding of comedic acting.

Also, by using McIntosh's theater space, the audience won't

lose as much of the comedy as they would if the show were performed in

a larger theater.

Starr's Mill took the

play to the regional one act competition over the weekend and placed second.

The show will be performed at 7 p.m. and admission is $5.

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