'Five Flights' is highly entertaining

'Five Flights' is highly entertaining

THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER

'Five Flights' is highly entertaining

Adam Bock has a habit of writing comedies that veer off in several directions. Take "Five Flights," now being staged by Convergence-Continuum at the Liminis on Scranton Road. While the main thrust of this highly successful play targets one puzzling problem, we find four characters doing a comedy routine while watching a ballet. There is even some business with two hockey players taking a shower together.

Surely Mr. Bock reaches his target audience -- those who find quirky, off-the-wall plays to be just terrific. Playgoers who require constant hand-holding need not bother.

In the beginning, Ed, the middle-aged son of his recently deceased father, gives us a taste of what is going on. His bland monologue gets things going.

It isn't long before we learn what eats at this family. Siblings Ed, Adele and Bobby have a decision to make. They have to decide what to do with the house-sized, decaying aviary built by their father for their long-dead mother.

It is Olivia, an eccentric paint store clerk, who drives the plot forward.

Olivia, Adele's closer-than-close best friend, wants to turn the aviary into her Church of the Fifth Day. According to Olivia, who reads from the Bible, God created birds on the fifth day. She runs the No. 5 up and down to make her point.

The reason for building the aviary in the first place is important. It seems, during the funeral of his wife, the grief-stricken father found that a wren had landed on his shoulder. Certainly, this was his reincarnated wife. So why not build an aviary?

While the nutty characters bob and weave over one problem, brother Ed falls in love with Tom, one of the hockey players. Their kissing scenes are more comical than romantic.

Though Olivia's religious plans are but the dream of a woman trapped in a low-paying job with a Visa bill she can't keep up with, it draws in Ed and the hockey-playing, ballet-loving Tom, as well as Adele. But you know Adam Bock won't let this happen.

The six actors pull all of this off with great skill. Everyone gets a chance to be a bit nutty. The sanest is Bobby, the brother we never see but is only talked about. It's as though he didn't want to get involved.

Director Clyde Simon keeps the action going its bumpy way, obviously having the time of his life. He also has created a fascinating set. At one end of the stage, there is a wall of the crumbling aviary attracting constant attention.

"Five Flights," originally done as an hour-and-a-half one-act, has been split in two with a 10-minute intermission. A wise move. It takes those extra few minutes to absorb the first half before taking on the second.

Religion, passion, the ballet, bird worship and more collapse into 90 minutes of high-speed theater. It's a good time. Call 216-687-0074 for tickets.