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Right from the opening lines, Paul Laszlo plays the audience shamelessly, making the most of abundant one-liners. Lizzie Taishoff brings Margaret to life with her natural, honest reactions. And once she starts screaming, she turns a most attractive shade of bright pink.

Directed by Gautam Narasimhan and Robert Lundin, this play is cute but a little static. There is little motion on stage, until Taishoff shows her skill with a nightstick (a must-see).

I kept wishing during the play that the two would give in a bit more to the apparent chemistry between them. The one tender moment comes out of nowhere, and was gone before its sweetness could sink in. Overall, though, this pair handles the balance of hatred and attraction as well as any "Moonlighting" episode.

In the second act of Jules Feiffer's "Knock Knock," Joan of Arc and her sugarplum-fairy Voices try to convert hermits Cohn and Abe. I think. This absurdist fragment is difficult to follow but fun to watch, as director Angeli Gohel frames striking images on stage again and again.

As Joan, Susanne Pringle conveys a charming innocence and honesty with her realistic reactions. Roman Aranda nicely handles Cohn's physical attraction to Joan; I would, however, have liked to see more depth to his cynicism. Matt Mitchell, as Abe, is the ultimate anarchist, impassively answering questions not yet posed.

The true highlights are Jessica Nelson and Christie Gross as Joan's pink tutu-clad Voices. Gross steals the show with her charming exasperation at the madness occurring around her. When the play is at its most confusing, the Voices save the day with their impromptu pirouettes.

Eric Lindemann and Micah Russo succeed at charming absurdity in David Ives' "The Philadelphia." At a standard one-act diner, Mark (Stanton Champion) complains enthusiastically to Al (Doward Hudlow) about his bad luck. Al's unlikely diagnosis turns out to be startlingly accurate, and thanks to Al's advice, Mark's luck begins to change.

To say more would be to rob this absurd comedy of its charm. Hudlow keeps the scene moving with his honest reactions and great comedic timing.

Champion's opening anger makes him hard to understand at first, but when engaged in charming banter with a superbly deadpan waitress (Marisa Levy), he rises to the occasion, playing her and the audience with every word.

The real gem of the evening, however, is Pat Woods' "Busy Bodies."

Directors Dawn Bennett and Jameson James have worked magic making this predictable, stuffy British slapstick come alive.

Mary and Doug Wilcott seek to end their financial troubles by rubbing out Mary's rich, dotty old Aunt Beth.

However, the unlikely entrances of Mafia hitman Luigi Manceen and elderly lawyer Timothy Fuller throw their plan off-course.

Sofia Westblom's Mary is seductive and calculating; her strong presence keeps the plot moving.

As Luigi, Josh Katz shows a strong natural talent for physical comedy, as does Seth Eatinger (Timothy). Ben Graf and Sarah Pitre, however, steal the show. Graf's Doug is a model British sap; whether groveling at Mary's feet, whining about his upset bowels, or ranting melodramatically about his ruin, Graf remains consistent, charming and hilarious.

He is topped only by Pitre's zany Aunt Beth. Not only does Pitre beautifully handle the accent, the age and the demanding physical comedy, but her slow, ridiculous evolution as a character makes the play.

Whether sitting quietly in a chair or riding Eatinger around the stage, Pitre simply glowed.

Yes, the Wiess One-Acts are silly. And yes, they are rough around the edges (at one point, Lundin and Narasimhan bark offstage). But they are one-acts.

Not only has Wiess managed to assemble four talented casts, but they have rediscovered the loud over-the-top, simple humor that makes the one-act great.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the September 26, 1997 issue.