Genre: Comedy
Written by: Doug Budin and Randall Rapstine
Directed by: Lauren Cohn
Performed by: Doug Budin and Randall Rapstine
Running time: 88 minutes
Web site: baldguyandajew.com

At the back of the stage is a trunk overflowing props and costumes but if you think that you're about to witness the chameleon-like wizardry of downtown's Sarah Jones (bridge & tunnel) or Broadway's Jefferson Mays (I Am My Own Wife), you're sadly mistaken. In this evening of alternating monologues peppered with dialogue, Doug Budin and Randall Rapstine trot out slippery-accented, artificial oddballs who deliver eye-rolling truisms but no real truths. "Everyone's trying to be someone that they're not." Do tell. "We all get embarrassed by our parents." No kidding. Whether the speaker is a Holocaust survivor's daughter or a gay drama teacher, Common Knowledge consistently sticks to the obvious then slows down the action with gimmicky, poorly chosen sound effects. The one sharply conceived character—Rapstine's petulant, elementary school playwright—pens pithy three-line scenes in response to his deriding Asian stepmother. If only the larger production were as short and sweet. —Drew Pisarra

• Where: The Next Stage
• When: Sat, Aug 14 at 6:15 p.m.; Sun, Aug 15 at 2:15 p.m.; Thu, Aug 19 at 7 p.m.; Sun, Aug 22 at noon; Thu, Aug 26 at 9:30 p.m.; Fri, Aug 17 at 3 p.m.