"Ha-ha," "gasp," "wow," "that's so true!" All of these responses I heard from the audience while watching Courtney Baron's A Very Common Procedure. Actors Amir Arison, Lynn Collins and Stephen Kunken put on a great performance. The story entails how a husband, Michael, and wife, Carolyn, go through marital struggles due to the death of their infant child after a failed medical procedure -- and how, due to this event, Carolyn is drawn to the doctor who failed the procedure, which all boils down to the question: Who is to blame?

The rush of various emotions that are instilled in the audience, time after time provides a refreshing, comedic and heart-felt experience for all of its viewers. The swerve of emotion is layered with quick and clever scene changes, due to the motioned stage which moves backward and forward. The play also displayed a fusion or intertwining of scenes: A scene would close and the actors would stay on stage, frozen, while another actor would open a new scene -- and then suddenly one of the actors from the previous scene would intervene.This form of stage action provides a spontaneous aspect to the theater and keeps the audience compellingly engaged.

Another unique quality of this production is that it breaks down the fourth wall completely. And by fourth wall I mean the act of speaking directly to the audience. Through this technique, the audience members can more easily relate to the actors, since it seems more like a conversation than watching blunt action. But this can lead traditional viewers of theater straight out the door, due to the experience more closely resembling being told a story, rather than a showing us the story. But I disagree.

Humor abounds throughout the production -- but it can only be fully understood by seasoned New Yorkers who are mostly over the age of 18. While the overall production is great, the closing of the play veers into total chaos with a total scream-a-thon from all three characters. As a result the audience leaves unfulfilled, and with the impression that the production may have ended early due to time.