Millbrook: "An Evening of 10 Minute Plays"

Last weekend, a one-night-only fundraising performance of An Evening of 10 Minute Plays entertained an almost capacity crowd in Millbrook.

Eleven short plays were directed by eleven veteran and first-time directors, several of whom are members of the Millbrook Community Players' Board of Directors. -- Using minimal furniture and props, and with musical interludes during blackouts to make the changes, the eleven short plays kept audiences entertained by the mostly comical vignettes.

Whether the subject was, for instance, a different take on the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First" duologue, or families disagreeing on what to get rid of in "The Garage Sale", or studying the afterlife of "sinfully challenged" people in "Better Living Through Reincarnation", or analyzing our dependence on cell phones in "Status Update", each piece took off in a new direction and kept the audience with them all the way.

Highlights were: "Marriage...After Death" in which the ghosts of a man [Lee Bridges] and his two former wives [Misty Bone and Donna Young] dissect their relationships with building animosity and unexpected comic results; "What's in the Box", in which a man [Kevin Morton] escalates the frustration of a woman [Carol Majors] who wants to know the contents of a box he's holding, only to be repeatedly told "Nothing"; the excessive absurdity of "1-800..." in which a customer [Michael Snead] tries to pay a bill but is confronted by an off-stage disembodied voice prompt [Shea Jackson] that takes on very human emotions in her responses to his agitation.

By far the most entertaining and clever "The History of Television, Condensed" is both a hilarious mock-history that starts in "caveman days" and continues to the present; a father son duo -- Kevin and Jesse Morton -- are spot on in comic timing, adept at physical pratfalls, and conscript the audience in their antics. Well done.

An enjoyable evening that hopefully raised some money for upgrades to the Millbrook theatre.

ASF: "Steel Magnolias"

Alabama Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Rick Dildine dishes out a production of Steel Magnolias as familiar as fried chicken, biscuits, and sweet tea, with a side order of collards and hot sauce. He sets the tone with an on-stage instrumental trio of local musicians who create a backyard barbeque atmosphere and facilitate scene changes that advance the passage of time.

Robert Harling's 1987 comedy-drama was written after the untimely death of his sister, made into a successful film two years later, and has hardly been off the boards since. Its popularity, no doubt, is due in part to his unwavering commitment to depicting the women of fictitious Chinquapin Parish, Louisiana as the eponymous title characters, the "steel magnolias" who are delicate as a flower and tough as steel when confronted by life's challenges.

Infused with acerbic wit and gentle humor to help deflect the seriousness of personal tragedy and a consciousness of one's own mortality, Dildine's production is staged "in the round" in the Octagon Theatre to enhance its intimacy with the audience. -- Scenic designer Scott C. Neale invites the audience into a comfortable wicker-furnished beauty salon, and Olivera Gajic's character driven costumes and Matthew Reeves Oliver's complimentary wigs show how the characters change over the 3-year time-span of the action.

Ostensibly the plot that revolves around the prettiest girl in town's wedding, ill-advised pregnancy, and unfortunate death, and her conflicted relationship with her mother; in fact it affords deeper insights into the lives of small-town Southern women whose life-long friendships are strengthened by catastrophic events.

As they gather in outspoken Truvy's [Marcy McGuigan] beauty shop for their standing Saturday hair appointments on the day of Shelby's [Gracie Winchester] wedding, Truvy hires newcomer to the community woman with a suspected past Annelle [Sarah Walker Thornton]; then we meet Shelby's successful psychologist mother M'Lynn [Alison Briner Dardenne], former First Lady of the town Clairee [Tracy Conyer Lee], and wealthy eccentric Ouiser [Greta Lambert]. -- And for the next two hours, they banter and talk trash about one another as only long-term friends can do, at the same time as they secure their bonds of friendship with compassion, support, and love expressed through Harling's masterful dialogue and the genuine talents of the ensemble cast.

Each of Harling's characters could have come from almost any community -- big or small, Southern or not; they are instantly recognizable, yet each is given a distinction that the ASF actors bring to individual life beyond archetype or caricature. -- Ms. McGuigan's tough speaking Truvy also has a soft side for Ms. Thornton's confused Annelle who changes from a timid newcomer to a spunky self-assured woman. Both Ms. Lee and Ms. Lambert seem to relish in their characters' continual sparring, yet they are quick to forgive one another: as world-traveler Clairee says "I love you more than luggage", and Ouiser explains her demeanor with "I'm not crazy; I've just been in a bad mood for 40 years." In typical mother-daughter disagreements, Ms. Dardenne's M'Lynn's concern for her daughter's well-being is countered by Ms. Winchester's Shelby standing up for making her own decisions; though they argue, there is never a doubt that they love one another.

While there is no room for them in this estrogen filled play, the men who never appear on stage wouldn't dare to intrude on the women's domain in the beauty shop because they can only relate to things they can "shoot...stuff...or marry", and prove to be helpless in tragic times, leaving the women to live up to the eponymous title "Steel Magnolias".

When Ms. Dardenne's grief-stricken M'Lynn had the courage to stay with Shelby till the end and was proud to have been able to give her daughter life a second time, her breakdown is shattering, and the other women are her only resource for healing.

The actors in this tight ensemble appear so comfortable in their individual skins and with one another that they emerge as much as if they had known one another all their lives...a flawless ensemble. -- Though Truvy's beauty shop slogan -- "There's no such thing as natural beauty" -- might bring in her customers, in this production of Steel Magnolias the most natural beauty of true and resolute friendship overshadows any cosmetic enhancements.

Wetumpka Depot: "The Music Man, Jr."

The Wetumpka Depot Players have a lot on their plate: their production of The Diviners is on its way to compete in the National meeting of the American Association of Community Theatres; they're in rehearsals for the musical Bright Star; and the "Encore Players" production of The Music Man, Jr. is the first group in a pilot program sponsored by Music Theatre International affording Seniors opportunities to perform versions of plays that have been abridged for performances by Youth Theatre companies. The Music Man, Jr. closed after a short run this weekend at the Depot.

The "Encore" company is comprised of some 15 women who doubled many of the roles in Meredith Wilson's hugely popular musical that tells the exploits of flimflam man "Professor" Harold Hill [Sally Blackwell] who comes to River City, Iowa to scam the town's naive citizens into investing in a boys band, complete with fancy uniforms and instruments, intending to skips town before they realize they have been bilked. -- While there, he meets and falls in love with spinster librarian Marian Paroo [Jean Webb]. Assorted townsfolk fall under his spell, though some including Mayor Shin [Charlotte Whetsone] demand to see his credentials.

There is a lot of confusion and many complications along the way, and audiences are treated to the play's many well-known songs, among them: "76 Trombones", "Trouble", "Goodnight My Someone", "Wells Fargo Wagon", "Shipoopi", "Gary, Indiana", and "Till There Was You".

With an average age of 70, the "Encore Players" strut their collective stuff with grace and style, impersonating men in admirable costumes and makeup [they are recruiting Senior men to join the Company], and creating an infectious good-natured atmosphere that had the audience laughing, cheering, and occasionally singing along.

Let's hope this will be the first of many such theatrical excursions for the "Encore Players".

ASF: "Romeo and Juliet"

Romeo and Juliet, Artistic Director Rick Dildine's first Shakespeare production since taking the helm at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, showcases his minimalist approach to this season and affirms his willingness to re-energize classics for 21st Century audiences.

Although purists might miss the customary Elizabethan costumes and elaborate scenery, Dildine's production in fact leans on the theatrical conventions of Shakespeare's own time: actors dressed in contemporary costumes performing on a mostly bare stage. So, Theresa Ham's mid-20th Century costumes and Josh Smith's scenic design that opens the Festival Stage to the walls and supplies scaffolding to accommodate the script [those balcony scenes, for example], allow audiences to concentrate on plot, character, and theme. -- While it might take a little getting used to, this energetic ensemble production makes a late 16th Century play resonate strongly for both experienced Shakespeareans as well as the casual theatre-going public.

Romeo and Juliet needs no introduction; it's on virtually everyone's required reading list, and has an impressive performance history on stage and in film...and we know how it ends -- so, why do this play now? Well, great playwrights and their plays remain popular in part because they explore universal subjects, and it is up to each production to find in them what touches the hearts and minds of their intended audiences.

Dildine interprets Shakespeare's story of the "star-crossed lovers" and the long-forgotten reason for family feuds that result in continual street brawls between their families as the vehicles that highlight an out-of-fashion patriarchy that assumes to know what is best but often does more harm than good, and pits parental authority against the younger generation's normal adolescent rebelliousness. Extremes of passion and untempered energy mark the ASF production; melodramatic histrionics of the young lovers and their peers are contrasted by the unswerving dictatorial positions of the adults. -- Much of what we see on stage at ASF could have been excerpted from today's headlines.

As the thralls of teenage romance and the high-testosterone posturing of Verona's youth [all swagger without thinking of the consequences] are brought to the fore, the fate of the young couple is determined by ill-advised authoritarian privilege, both secular and religious.

Matt Lytle [Romeo] and Cassia Thompson [Juliet] are an appealing couple, whose stage chemistry is admirable; they make it easy for us to approve of their love with all its contradictions and emotional excesses. -- Christopher Gerson's [Capulet] turn as Juliet's father commanding her to marry another man under threat of disinheritance is frighteningly absolute in his parental right to be obeyed.

Ann Arvia [Nurse] is a complicated mix: a substitute-mother to Juliet who also knows her place in the social hierarchy, giving encouragement to the match with Romeo on the one hand, and offering less-than-sage advice to marry Paris later. Ms. Arvia's performance delves into the nuances of a character who is also a go-between and a comic foil to the young men.

As Romeo's friend Mercutio, Billy Finn takes advantage of a role that is regularly given a lot of attention: he is the volatile leader of the pack, the cock-f-the-walk who instigates bravura altercations that turn deadly, the alpha-male who can ridicule his friends with good-natured banter, the speaker of the famous "Queen Mab speech" that warns Romeo of the obstacles to romance and marriage inherent in their society, and the dreamer who is devastated by his surroundings. A tour de force performance that comes full circle in one of the best sword fights in this production [Paul Dennhardt is the fight choreographer].

The energy of the ensemble is laudable, and the interpolation of several songs gives the production a contemporary appeal. The anachronistic use of swords in a modern setting stretches credibility at first, yet it becomes an acceptable convention as the play progresses. And while  Dildine's modernization has a lot going for it, the beauty of Shakespeare's language is often obscured  by amplified music or energetic stage business.

This Romeo and Juliet deserves to be seen. It engages from start to finish; its high-energy ensemble of actors is impressive; its themes resonate to our society; and it tells us to listen to one another and act to benefit us all.

ASF: "Our Town"

When Thornton Wilder penned his revolutionary Pulitzer Prize winning Our Town in 1938, he wanted it to be "performed without sentimentality or ponderousness -- simply, dryly, and sincerely". Set "in the theatre where it is being performed" on a mostly bare stage, and using minimal props, his story of the ordinary lives of the residents of Grover's Corners offers profound insights into our lives as well.

The current powerfully simple and profound production at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival enlightens audiences in its three acts titled "Daily Life", "Love and Marriage", and "Death and Eternity", all guided by the Stage Manager [Douglas Rees, last seen at ASF in 2005], whose comfortably casual narration helps us understand the extraordinary within the ordinary, inviting us to assess our own lives and beliefs. He is both narrator and chorus who manipulates time, and offers provocative insights on life and death, family and social values, dreams and personal goals, and the nature of the temporal and the eternal.

Grover's Corners, from 1901-1913, is an average American town where very little of note happens: doors are seldom locked, neighbors look out for one another, secrets are few, and the large ensemble of actors playing assortment of eccentrics and gossips, occasional sibling rivalries and the inevitability of death are marked for us to see and respond with affection and a touch of nostalgia.

The plot tracks the love between neighbors George Gibbs [Michael Williams] and Emily Webb [Cassia Thompson] from teenage crushes through marriage and Emily's death in the birth of their second child. The innocence they bring to the roles and the heartfelt attraction and devotion to one another is admirable.

Their parents -- Dr. Gibbs [Christopher Gerson] and Mrs. Gibbs [Nehassaiu deGannes]; newspaper editor Mr. Webb [Chauncy Thomas] and Mrs. Webb [Michelle Shupe] -- are solid and respected citizens whose concerns for the world at large reflect the ideals of family, and whose values are impressed upon their children.

Directed by Bruce Longworth, and complimented by the neutral color pallet in both Josh Smith's set and Theresa Ham's costumes [this changes briefly in Act III where vibrant color accentuates Emily's brief return to the land of the living], this version of Our Town comes full circle in the closing scenes in the graveyard at Emily's funeral, where the dead speak and comment on eternity.

When Emily asks the Stage Manager "Does anyone truly understand the value of life while they live it?", he responds: "No -- the saints and poets, maybe -- they do some." And we are left in the audience to consider our own involvement in the simple things in life that matter most.

Theatre AUM: "Matt & Ben"

How did two best-friend actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, with no previous screenwriting experience, skyrocket from popular teen idols to the media darlings of the 1998 Academy Awards for their original screenplay of Good Will Hunting? Was it talent, or persistence, or connections, or propinquity?

In Matt & Ben -- a crafty 75-minute two-hander -- playwrights Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers have the script literally fall from above into a squalid Boston apartment where the two of them are struggling to write an adaptation of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

The bromance between Damon and Affleck is well documented, and Theatre AUM director Val Winkelman makes the most of the post-adolescent contradictions of two bros who tolerate each other's shortcomings, fight over trivialities, and forgive without hesitation.

If the mysterious delivery of the script wasn't enough, Kaling and Withers throw in some knockabout wrestling, and surreal visits from Affleck's one-time girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow, and from the famously reclusive Salinger who refuses them the rights to adapting his novel, thereby emphasizing this play;s debate regarding the value of adaptation vs. original writing. -- Oh yes, and the roles are to be played by women.

Matt [Kate Saylor] is the branier of the two, while Ben [Emily Aveldanez] could be described as thick, and throughout the one-act these actors display appropriate characteristics and behavior and feed off one another comfortably. And they make it fairly easy for audiences to forget they are women playing men.

The pace and energy flag at times, so some of the wordplay, petty childish bickering, and competitive oneupmanship don't have the satirical bite or humorous effect called for in the script. -- In the last all-too-brief moment when their names are announced as the winners for original screenplay, Ms. Saylor and Ms. Aveldanez epitomize the joyful delight that Damon and Affeck exhibited at the Oscars.

WOBT: "The Amen Corner"

There's a line of dialogue near the beginning of the vivid production of James Baldwin's 1954 play The Amen Corner, now showing at the Way Off Broadway Theatre in Prattville -- "Keep your own house in order" -- that signals a lot of the focus of the play, and impacts both its characters and anyone in the audience paying attention.

Set in an Evangelical storefront "corner" church and in the apartment of its determined preacher Sister Margaret [a stellar Crystal Mardis Johnson], Baldwin's first play and director Tara Fenn's remarkable production analyzes the hypocrisy of a religious zealot whose family life runs counter to the fundamentalist pronouncements she offers to her congregation.

In one of WOBT's strongest ensemble productions in recent memory, Ms. Fenn has gathered a fine group of neophyte and veteran actors to bring Baldwin's play to life: from the first moments of a rousing Gospel/Spiritual led by a dynamic Novelette Ward Seroyer as Sister Moore followed by an impassioned sermon by Ms. Johnson's Sister Margaret, we are brought into a place that feels so real that audiences are engaged immediately. -- Two other church stalwarts, Sister Boxer [Jasmine Simone Holland] and Brother Boxer [R. J. Johnson], and a complement of congregants enliven the proceedings of the church, and come with their own sets of issues.

There are jealousies and suspicions hinted at [Sister Margaret's tenure at the church was not a universal choice of the membership and her authoritarian behavior is questioned on occasion], but always disguised as being done in the service of the church. -- So when a new attendee -- Ida Jackson [Crystal Lee] -- asks for help for her sick baby and bitter husband, Sister Margaret at first advises her to leave her husband, and then only offers a seemingly perfunctory prayer, because she has been called away to help out a church in Philadelphia, and a "sacrifice" offering is collected to help pay her way there.

Margaret's son David [Luke Fenn] doesn't want to accompany his mother, and her estranged jazz musician husband Luke [Drey Wingate] shows up unexpectedly after ten years, and wants a reconciliation because he is close to death. -- Margaret had told everyone that Luke had deserted her and David, but the truth is revealed that she left him while grieving over the loss of her baby daughter in order to protect her son from his father's lifestyle. -- Caught in this lie, there will be consequences especially since David wants to follow in Luke's footsteps playing jazz music.

The repercussions during Margaret's absence come to a head as the church elders, led by the insinuating  Boxers, decide to oust Margaret and replace her with Sister Moore. [Everyone appears two-faced, behaving in the most anti-Christian ways while resorting to empty Biblical pronouncements.]

There is a touchingly truthful father-son scene between Mr. Wingate and Mr. Fenn where they connect on the most respectful of terms, and a frustratingly passionate one between Mr. Wingate and Ms. Johnson where their love for one another is still shown, but neither one can compromise their steadfast belief: the divide between his secular world and her spiritual one.

When an inconsolable Ida returns after the death of her baby [Ms. Lee is riveting in this scene], all Margaret can suggest is that she return home to grieve with her husband.

By the end, and though Margaret is widowed, left alone when David pursues a jazz career, and churchless, she learns that the best choices come from being honest and loving all people equally. -- Lessons we all could benefit from.