Review: RELATIVELY SPEAKING at Theatre Conspiracy

People talk a lot.

Well, let's correct that. We speak a lot. Talking implies a conversation.

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We rarely talk, unless we talk at each other. We never listen. But what happens when communication fails? Theatre Conspiracy explores that in a charming troika of one-acts titled "Relatively Speaking." 

A trio of kosher tchotkes examining the human condition from Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, the plays drill mankind's inability to both communicate and appreciate. What are we saying? What aren't we hearing? And why can't we all just get along?

Assembling a large cast in the heart of season, be it amateur or professional, poses certain difficulties. "Relatively Speaking" needs near-perfect casting and chemistry to make its mix-and-match message about the frailties of human interaction work. I'm not sure Koch ever found what she was hoping for, although the show certainly delivers on its comedy and gets its message across. Still, for a play from Jewish writers, "Relatively Speaking" feels … relatively gentile?

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"Relatively Speaking" plays at 8 p.m. Jan. 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25 with one 2 p.m. matinée on Sunday, Jan. 29. Tickets are $20 with various specials. For more information, call 239-936-3239 or theatreconspiracy.org.

Stella Ruiz and Scott Thomson in Woody Allen's
"Honeymoon Hotel," the third part of
"Relatively Speaking."

"What did the waiter say to the table full of Jewish mothers?"

(beat)

"Is anything okay?"