The three shows in the first act are filled with nonstop wit, zaniness, and pure fun. Perhaps too much zaniness for some tastes, but most of the audience (including myself) was under the spell of Ives’ humor and crazy characters from the first buzz of the two insects in the first playlet, a story that takes us into the private world of the mayfly (with a little help from famous naturalist David Attenborough (David Adkins) who comes sliding down a rope from the ceiling of the Cassius Carter Center Stage to educate us about the “lowly” mayfly). After flying to the female mayfly’s home following their first date (a home furnished with a lily pad for a sofa, a music box that plays cricket sounds, and has a little pond of stagnant water for the beverage bar), they begin to realize that, although they were only born this morning, they will not live to see the next dawn. Will these self-aware mayflies use their 24 hours on earth to despair at their brief and seemingly meaningless existence, or will they seize the day and make the most of it? With plenty of puns, clever writing, an unforgettable mayfly “mating ritual,” and the most convincing mayfly performances I’ve seen (Mia Barron and Mark Setlock), the evening starts off flying high.

Our next offering, Babel’s in Arms, takes us way back in time as we watch two physically struggling and mentally struggling laborers (David Adkins and Mark Setlock) attempting to lay the cornerstone brick for what the local (and loco) high priestess (Mia Barron) dreams will soon become the Tower of Babel that will reach into the heavens and allow her and the other bluebloods to hobnob with the gods. Sounds like a lot of work for the bricklayers, especially since it just took them two years to lay the first brick. And the job is getting ever more complicated, as the demanding and intimidating forewoman (Nancy Bell) starts adding instructions in indecipherable gibberish. Is there a way these two construction workers can talk their way out of this job (preferably without losing their necks to the forewoman)? Time for some serious religious speculation! The amusing bricklayers, along with a very “high” high priestess and a sour-looking eunuch with an attitude, help this one reach stratospheric comedic heights.

We end act one with a hilariously melodramatic murder mystery spoofing British Masterpiece Theatre where death is most definitely a laughing matter. A man lies shot to death on the carpet, his ventricles violently ventilated by bullets, and the other three party guests all have a compelling motive – a motive having to do with extra marital affairs. But this is not merely a simple love triangle, to be sure. It’s more like a love hexagon, as not only did the murder victim sleep with every human in the room, it appears he also carried on relations with most of the furniture as well. So who did it – Roger with a revolver, Mona with a magnum, Sarah with a shotgun, or the sofa with a high-caliber, hollow-point throw pillow?

Time definitely flies through the hysterical first act, but it slows down considerably in the second act with much slower-paced and tales that are more philosophical than humorous. The first playlet is a parable about a man who goes on a needless quest around the world for many years, searching for a certain green hill that he saw in a dream, while that which was really important was right at home all the time. The second one, Bolero, was the least intriguing of the six playlets – a tale about a paranoid woman who wakes her husband up in the middle of the night because of voices coming from the adjoining apartment. The muffled sounds keep the young couple, and the audience, guessing at the cause, but the ending is sudden and unfulfilling.

But the second act is definitely worth hanging around for, as its third and final playlet is a gem. Mia Barron and Nancy Bell are adorable as two elderly and charming churchwomen who have clearly been friends for ages. They are in the church’s basement kitchen preparing a funeral breakfast as they have done for years and years, talking and joking and gossiping all the while and like only lifelong friends can do. We don’t actually see the kitchen appliances and utensils they are using, but we hear them, and the two women seem content with it all. The reason we don't see any props will soon become apparent as the angels appear off to the sides of the stage, kindly assisting the churchwomen in this gentle, touching, and amusing tale about the Lives of the Saints.