I was attracted to the surreal and playful implication of this title, as well as the philosophic promise of the blurb. And the play delivers on those accounts. However, one of the two keywords in the title rather quickly gets kicked from the mix: “Author.” Likely, as an author myself, I’m biased, but if you’re an author too, you should know, it’s just stage time these characters are in search of (or at least, that’s what they’re quickly willing to settle for). The opening scene is likely the playwright's way of whining about the types of works that so oft get produced and serves as a nice place/process for these 6 characters to interrupt. Eventually, the happed-upon actors decide to go ahead and “bring to life” on stage these 6 characters who watch the rehearsals and, of course, are very difficult to convince. After all, it is their very personal stories that are being told and their very existences that depend on these portrayals. That’s a cool idea, and at moments the writing and performances capture its brisk mint essence.

But, sadly, good portions of this work are rather bland wordage. Some of the cause is in the script itself. The father’s philosophic dialogue tends toward the formal - “Of that, I have no doubt.” Some cause may have been in the tone chosen for the portrayal. I was left wondering whether I’d prefer that character to have been pushed into the whiny Woody Allen direction or the complete opposite -- the pompous academic. True, he’s meant to be the rather disconnected intellectual, but in the end, this mildly interesting character doesn’t win the audience in any sincere or emotional way. The step-daughter, on the other hand, is written with more fire and brought to life (by the actor playing the character looking for an author) in a far more engaging manner.

Blocking. While I enjoyed the blocking for the most part, there were times when characters stood in front of the action and blocked the audience’s view. That’s not so good. However, the moments when the 5 faced the back of the stage while the 1 spoke (often directly toward the audience) -- this was an effective choice.

Brave also, was the choice to include a couple of audience participants for the odd ending. However, the really weird tone change at the climax made the ultimate conclusion -- well, really weird and awkward, not to mention confusing. “Weird and awkward” are not necessarily bad. In fact, I often like them. Still, I’m not so sure how I felt about them here.

At the end of the day, this short play is an attempt to bring some light philosophic ponderings on identity into the realm of dramatic entertainment at which it succeeds in a mixed way.

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