Ten Hits Come to One Show

By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer

There are at least 10 reasons why you should go see the 13^th Annual Pick of the Vine at Little Fish Theatre.

And, that’s only if you count just the 10 plays selected from hundreds of submissions for: Little Fish’s yearly salute to new plays and new playwrights.

The 10 plays were amongst a large number submitted and chosen by a committee for production.

If you need more numbers to persuade you to see this sparkling show, there are the eight actors involved: Chad Skiles (he’s the only newby in the cast), Bill Wolski, Holly Baker-Kreiswirth, Bridget Garwood, David Kieran, Mary Margaret Lewis, Rodney Rincon and Annie Vest. They make up the casts in the various plays. Then, there are the directors: Margaret Schugt, Cylan Brown, James Rice and Danielle Ozymandias. It’s a mob of talent anyway you slice it.

Of the 10 plays (Anniversary by Sam Wallin, directed by Brown, Pre-Occupy Hollywood by Dylan Brody directed Schugt, Shadows by Greg Freier directed by Rice, Fighting Mr. Right by Barbara Lindsay, directed by Ozymandias, Mamie & Martin Go to Bed by Kat Ramsburg, directed by Schugt, Salt in the Wound by Mark Harvey Levine, directed by Rice, The Maltese Waiter by John Minigan, directed by Ozymandias, Trash Day by Vincent Terrell Durham, directed by Rice, Come & Take It by Annie R. Such, directed Brown and There’s Something About Flashdance by Diana Lee Woody and Henry Franco, directed by Brown) only one is serious in subject, which is usually the case. There is something about the shorter format that lends itself to comedy.

You’ll love Wolski and Baker-Kreiswirth (married in real life) in The Anniversary, about one crisis in a relationship, and Baker-Kreiswirth turning the tables on a predatory caller in There’s Something about Flashdance.

There are other great moments: go and choose your own. It’s a great evening of theater. If you don’t like one play, as we’ve said often before, there is sure to be another one on stage in a few minutes. The ensemble cast also changes the simple sets between plays, dancing to hit music and adding another dimension to the show.

Tickets are $27, $25 for seniors. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through Feb. 14, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, and additional performances at 8 p.m. Feb. 5 and 12.

Details: (310) 512-6030, www.littlefishtheatre.org
Venue: Little Fish Theatre
Location: 777 Centre St., San Pedro