The Theater: British Sketchbook

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The Actors Company staging of Knots wraps an hour's worth of such vicious circular logic in music hall routines that include slapstick, songs, juggling, mime and dance. Ironically, the format runs into a Laingian knot or two. The words cannot satisfy the action, which in turn fails to satisfy the words. The reason is that Laing's knots are not truly Gordian but slip; what appears complex comes apart with a simple tug. This may even be the point, but it still leaves the actors-none of whom are Laurel or Hardy, or Gallagher & Shean—striving frantically to make the most of meager material. As a psychological Sesame Street, however, Knots has its moments. Marth Duffy, R.Z. Sheppard