Convergence-Continuum’s ‘Plano’ is a blink and you will miss it kind of show

At 9:00 p.m. Saturday evening I found myself back in my car and heading home. As I was cruising the streets of Tremont, I turned to radio WTAM 1100 AM to see what the final score of the Cleveland Guardian’s game was. Instead the show “Coast to Coast AM with George Noory” was on the air. On this particular evening George was talking with “the world’s most renowned ufologist” (whose name I did not catch) who mainly griped that the world leaders and the United Nations refused to take him serious even though he had in fact had a number of close encounters of the fourth kind...go figure.

The reason I mention this is that I had just sat through the 80 minute (without intermission) production of Will Arbery’s fast paced “Plano”. To tell the truth, the radio show made a bit more sense to me then the play but to its credit the play was short and fast moving.

In the program notes, “Plano” is described as “a strange play that moves at breakneck speed condensing time sometimes in mid sentence”. It is what is considered “weaponized experimental theater” not to be confused with “performance art”. It is a show that defies description. It is not quite grounded in reality yet not completely detached from it either. It seems to move forward with a purpose but what exactly that purposed is seems a mental challenge for the audience or at least for me.

Three sisters (no...not the ones from “The Scottish Play”) gather on a porch somewhere in Texas (?). Anne (Carolyn Demanelis) is married to an obviously gay man, Juan/John (Angelluis Centeno) who is in the process of getting his green card by marriage to Anne whose house is overrun by slugs. Genevieve (Katie Atkinson) is married to Steve (Michael Frye) at least for the moment. Steve is abusive or maybe he is not as it is hard to say since he multiplies and Genevieve is not sure which Steve is hurting her.

Iasbel (Ariana Starkman) is unmarried and a radical Catholic who is moving to Chicago to help the needy. She suffers from various painful ailments and believes that in truth she is a saint. There is also “Faceless Ghost” Sam Bartlett who quietly wanders the stage from time to time. He is noted by the oval gauze mask that covers his face. Towards the end of the show, Mary (Molly McFadden) makes a motherly appearance to try to calm her children. That is pretty much the gist of it.

From the very start the play races along a breakneck speed and at times “skips time” as someone says “someone or something is happening later”…“it’s later” as the split second segue unfolds in record time. Billed as a comedy you need to pay rapt attention in order to catch the broad humor that is delivered in machine gun style.

As for the actors, they really do a good job of trying to keep up with the action and the funny lines do make for an entertaining evening that are delivered straight in order to emphasize their absurdity. It is simply that the lack of a cohesive story has little relation to reality and this makes it hard to keep up with the action.

The show is spontaneously directed by Kari Barclay. The rather impressive porch stage set is the genius of Connor Krohn. Amanda Rowe Van Allen does the costuming. Lighting is by Robert Wachala with sound design by Kari Barclay.

“Cleveland’s up-close and OUT there Theatre” has truly stretched the edges of reality with this absurdly dark comedy. Fans of Con-Con will flock. How they react will be anyone’s guess. See the show and make up your own mind.

Convergence-Contiuum’s production of “Plano” will be on stage in the Liminis Theatre at 2438 Scranton Road, Cleveland (in historic Tremont) through June 13, 2026. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.convergence-continuum.org/ or call (216) 687-0074.