Dustin Tucker is a one-man show in "Fully Committed."

Preston Sturges would have loved this one.  For those too young to know the name, he was the genius responsible for creating the genre of screwball comedy films of the 1940's.  My favorite is Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant and a leopard. It's non-stop, quick-paced, with snappy dialogue and has the audience in stitches most of the time.

Pretty much the same can be said for Becky Mode's one-man show, Fully Committed, about a reservation clerk at a trendy Upper East Side Manhattan restaurant. Dustin Tucker brilliantly plays Sam, the clerk, as well as 35 other eccentric characters from inside and outside the restaurant.

The action takes place during one hysterically raucous day when Sam, left on his on by a job-seeking co-worker, faces down a demanding chef, a snooty Maitre'd, and a potpourri of challenging and snooty clientele. And he does it all on the phone.
Interspersed with family issues, Sam remains surprisingly calm and patient as people demand reservations at a restaurant that is “fully committed” for two months in advance. It's amazing that aspiring actor Sam doesn't become fully committed himself.

Actor Dustin Tucker reminds me of a cross between Jim Carrey and Dick Van Dyke (high praise). He has impeccable timing---and stamina.  The man is onstage by himself for 90 minutes, during which all the audience hears is his voice and the sound of a telephone or intercom ringing.  Tucker seamlessly slides from one character to another and back again. If the man isn't schizophrenic after performing this role for a month it will be a miracle. 

Scenic Designer Anita Stewart (also Artistic Director of PSC) provides a simple, yet creative, set.  It combines chalk drawings for the New York street outside the restaurant and a grubby office for the place where Sam slaves away in the in the bowels of the basement; an analogy which becomes quite appropro during the play.

The show is well directed by Lucy Smith Conroy.  Sound Designer Jill BC DuBoff plays a crucial role in this play where the rhythm of the phones and buzzers never stops.

Sam represents every sap stuck in a dead-end job while waiting for his ship to come in.  In Sam's case, that is a good acting job for which Fate steps in and plays an interesting role.

I can't imagine a person who wouldn't enjoy this play. Is it ludicrous? Of course---and that's half the fun. It's slapstick, but not stupid.