Addie Taylor

Mud Creek hosts marital mayhem

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By John Lyle Belden

We are cordially invited to a wedding in the quaint and quirky town of Faro, Texas – at least we hope there’s one.

Mud Creek Players presents “Dearly Beloved,” the popular comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten, directed by MCP president Dani Lopez-Roque.

We await the blessed event in a church fellowship hall as the Futrelle sisters – Honey Raye (Lisa Warner Lowe), Frankie (Jennifer Poynter) and Twink (Lea Ellingwood) – must work together to make the wedding of Frankie’s daughter Tina Jo (Breanna Helms) as perfect as possible.

Estranged from her siblings, Honey is welcome to pitch in if she can stop flirting in her search for Husband No. 5. To Frankie’s horror, Twink’s idea of catering is a potluck supper, complete with hog roast in a pit behind the church. Frankie’s husband Dub (Jason Roll) and the bride’s twin sister Gina Jo (Helms) are also on hand to help, as well as friend Raynerd Chisum (Fred Margison) and wedding planner/florist Geneva Musgrave (Laura Gellin). Not wishing to help, or for the nuptials to even happen, is mother of the groom Patsy Price (Marie McNelis).

Unknown to the others, Twink has seen a fortune teller, Nelda Lou (Addie Taylor), who told her if she is to be married herself, she must attend a wedding with her boyfriend Wiley Hicks (Kevin Smith) – which is why her beau is there despite being severely sick, and on way too much cold medicine. Dub also has a secret, which he hopes to reveal later at the reception.

UPS driver Justin Waverly (Stephen Di Carlo) arrives delivering bad news: the minister can’t come to the wedding. However, as he is also a seminary student, Justin can officiate. This is followed by worse news: the bride and groom are headed out of town! Local police officer John Curtis Buntner (Jackson Hawkins) is dispatched to fetch them back.

From the opening scene at Geneva’s Bookoo Bokay all the way to the ceremony at the end, there are practically non-stop laughs, punctuated by all the feelings such a day can summon – love, rage, etc. Still, amongst the flurry of things going wrong, the important stuff goes right.

The entire cast get into their characters, bringing us into the fun. Lowe, Poynter, and Ellingwood exhibit sibling chemistry, both when sparks fly and when they join forces. Roll is sweet as the long-suffering dad and husband. Helms shows a knack for physical comedy, particularly when Gina Jo deals with her crush on Justin. Smith, playing a man who barely knows what planet he’s on, provides some of the wildest moments.

It feels appropriate to have a “barn” at the edge of the city host this charming and hilarious piece of small-town silliness with heart as big as Texas. Performances of “Dearly Beloved” are Friday through Sunday, Sept. 19-21, and Sept. 26-27, at 9740 E. 86th St., Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at mudcreekplayers.org.

Belfry sets a place for you

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By John Lyle Belden

What’s the most important room in the house?

You might answer the kitchen, as that’s where the food is; or the living room, as that’s where the TV is; or, of course, the bathroom for obvious reasons. But the play “The Dining Room,” a comedy by A. R. Gurney, makes a case for this often-overlooked (if you even have it) space that was a stoic witness to change for middle-class America through the 20th century.

In the Belfry Theatre production, occupying the Switch Theatre in Fishers through Jan. 30, seven actors show us 18 scenes through 40 years (1939-79) with one nice but not quite antique table and set of chairs. Though it finally goes on the market in the era of Disco, this house is mostly home to members of a single family. They wouldn’t consider themselves wealthy but are well-off enough to have at least a cook and maid, at least in the early decades.

The fourth wall (French doors, we are told) becomes our window into their lives, as even in the stuffy past, there are youngsters looking towards the new while elders cling to the best of what has been. As the scenes bounce back and forth through the years, parents become grandparents, children become parents, and there’s always something we really shouldn’t talk about at the table.

The ensemble of Mia Gordon, Jennifer J. Kaufmann, Tim Long, Jeff Maess, Tom Riddle, Addie Taylor, and Debbie Underwood splendidly take on what must be a fun acting exercise, inhabiting the various ages and characters – only one is an actual youth, so “child” roles take on extra charm as the older hands truly commit. Under the direction of Diane W. Wilson, the scenes flow easily into each other, sometimes having a person or two from one era sharing the space with oncoming folks from another, making the room, in a way, timeless.

Though real tensions and drama sometimes pop up, this play is mainly a gentle comedy, the kind of feel-good family portrait that we can use about now. Even if we aren’t mid-century WASPs, we can feel a sting of familiarity in dealing with relatives in changing times. And it’s good to find something to laugh about, or at least knowingly smile, in it all.

Find the venue at Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy, 10029 E. 126th St., Suite D (note there is street construction in the area). Find info and tickets at www.thebelfrytheatre.com.

CCP ‘Streetcar’ a well-crafted vehicle

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By Wendy Carson

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is probably Tennessee Williams’ most famous play: the story of Blanche DuBois, an aging southern socialite who has squandered all her resources and must seek the assistance of her sister, Stella Kowalski, to survive.

Blanche is horrified by Stella’s “common” husband, Stanley, and the “squalor” in which they live (low-rent apartments in New Orleans’ French Quarter), but she has no other options so must endure this state of affairs. While Stella and Stanley’s place is small and rustic, it is clean, homey and they are quite satisfied with it.

Though Stanley has a fiery temper and loutish ways, he truly loves Stella and would do anything for her. Needless to say, Blanche and Stanley are at odds from the beginning and their tense friction continues throughout the progress of the play.

Desperate to escape her current situation and find someone who can afford to return her to her previous status, Blanche begins to woo one of Stanley’s friends, Mitch. Being a long-time bachelor who lives at home with his ailing mother, he appears to be a perfect mark. However, though she plays at being young and prudish, her reckless, scandalous past soon catches up with her. Meanwhile, Blanche’s trauma-fueled drunken delusions are getting worse, making her untrustworthy even when the worst actually happens.

Laura Lanman Givens glides beautifully through Blanche’s various moods, making the character far more sympathetic than she is often played – leading this production to a refreshing lightness rarely seen in a Williams show. Jonathan Scoble aptly shows Stanley’s hot-headed fury without making him an insufferable lout. Addison D. Ahrendts’s portrayal of the devoted sister and wife — forced to endure the stormy tantrums of the two people she loves the most – is delicate, yet perfectly nuanced.

Adam B. Workman makes the most of his moments as Mitch; Sebastian Ocampo is charming as their poker buddy, Pablo; Scott Prill and Susan Yeaw as loving/bickering neighbor couple Steve and Eunice Hubbell, add just the right spice to the scene; and Addie Taylor’s two brief roles seem to bookend the play. Also making brief but important appearances are Nolan Korwoski, Susan M. Lange and Ken Klingenmeier. Brent Wooldridge is director.

There is one weekend left to catch this classic of American drama, Thursday through Sunday, May 2-5, presented by Carmel Community Players at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way in downtown Carmel. Call 317-815-9387 or visit www.carmelplayers.org.