Published in the Weekly Volcano, Jan. 28, 2016
Doc (Michael Dresdner) and B Flat (Aaron Mohs-Hale). All photos courtesy Dennis K Photography |
Tacoma
Little Theatre’s production of Second
Samuel is a little play that tackles big subjects in an inventive manner
while maintaining its light-hearted feel. It is a stylistic marvel with two
sets: the Bait
and Brew Bar (stage left), advertising red eye, that’s booze, and red wigglers,
that’s bait; and the Change Your Life Hair and Beauty Emporium (stage right).
These settings are strictly segregated by sex, with the women in the salon and
the men in the bar. The only person to be seen in both is B Flat (Aaron Mohs-Hale),
who is both the narrator
and a major character in the story. This dichotomy is carried over to the
structure of the story, which separates Act 1 and Act 2 into stories that are different in
mood, light comedy in the first act and heavy drama that still manages to keep
just enough humor after the intermission. Credit playwright Pamela Parker and
director Chris Serface for this magic act, brought about by having dialogue
overlap and, in places, having characters speak in chorus with the narrator,
all of which is augmented by lighting, also by Serface.
Ruby (Ellen Peters), Marcela (Neicie Packer), Omaha (Diana
George), Jimmy Deeanne (Jill Heinecke)
|
During
the first act, I was afraid it was going to be just another farcical play
making fun of uneducated Southerners. I had recently been subjected to one of
those, and it was a horrible experience. But there was hope because Mohs-Hale’s
narration and his depiction of the boy called B Flat was so natural, unassuming
and sincere, and because the rest of the characters portrayed by an excellent
ensemble cast seemed natural despite being quirky and verging on Southern
stereotypes. They even got the accents right with no exaggeration.
Second Samuel Cast |
Throughout
the first act it was a lighthearted play of hootenanny humor, until something
totally unexpected happened, something I cannot divulge, something that
completely changed the play from a frothy comedy to a serious look into the
soul of a town.
The
second act takes an unflinching look into the ways in which residents of a
small town overcome intolerance and rise above their stuck-in-the-mud ways. It
is still humorous, but with sensitivity and intelligence never forecast by the
first act.
The
story takes place in a small town in Georgia in the late 1940s, where everyone
knows all about everyone else. Or they think they do.
There
is a definite Our Town feel. We
expect the men in the bar and the women in the beauty parlor to go on lovingly
fussing and fighting forever, but the death of Miss Gertrude changes all of
that. Never seen on stage, Miss Gertrude is already dead when the play opens.
She was one of the most beloved people in town, and her death takes the townspeople
into unexpected territory.
There
is only one black character in the play, U.S. (Jimmy Shields), whom everyone
likes. This at a time and place when virulent racism was rife. The only racist
in town is Mr. Mozel (Tom Birkeland), a curmudgeonly old man who doesn’t like
anyone. If we were expecting realism, this could have been a damaging blow to
the play, but Mr. Mozel is not presented as a real person but rather as a
symbol for all the small minded and racist people who would actually live in a
town like Second Samuel.
The
owner of the Bait and Brew, Frisky (Kerry Bringman) is anything but frisky,
except probably with his wife, Omaha Nebraska (Diana George). They love each
other dearly, but he is embarrassed by any show of affection in front of the
other men. Omaha and her siblings, by-the-way, are all named after cities.
U.S.
is possibly the smartest person in town. He and B Flat are the town’s
peacemakers along with, to a lesser degree, Doc (Michael Dresdner), who tells
the town busybodies to mind their own business. The most infuriating of these
busybodies is Jimmy Deeanne (Jill Heinecke) the self-absorbed wife of the local
Baptist preacher.
Mansel
(Bob Yount) is a good ol’ boy who drinks a lot and tells whoppers that nobody
believes. He is married to Marcela (Neicie Packer), who tries her best, with
minimal success, to make a good man out of him. Most of these characters are
flawed but basically good.
The cast is
outstanding. I want to see more and more of Shields and Mohs-Hale. Heinecke beautifully portrays the woman you love to hate.
Yount, Bringman and Dresdner are each so natural in their roles that if I
didn’t know better I’d think they were playing themselves.
I
was intrigued by many of the character names, which enhance the quirky
character of the town of Second Samuel, so named because the original town of
Samuel was destroyed and rebuilt; which is what happens metaphorically to the
townspeople after Miss Gertrude’s death.
Second Samuel is an unpretentious play that tackles
large themes and brings them down to manageable size. It takes place on a set (designed
by Lex Gernon) that reflects the time and place, and the intimate feel of the
very believable characters. It is a relatively short play that comes in at a
little under two hours including intermission.
Note: It was called to my attention that I erroneously said B Flat was the only man to venture into the hair salon. I had forgotten that Doc also ventured into the salon where he showed Jimmy Deeanne and others the error of their ways.
Note: It was called to my attention that I erroneously said B Flat was the only man to venture into the hair salon. I had forgotten that Doc also ventured into the salon where he showed Jimmy Deeanne and others the error of their ways.
Second
Samuel, 7:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday and 2:00 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 7, $20-$24, Tacoma Little
Theatre, 210 N “I” St., Tacoma, 253.272.2281, www.tacomalittletheatre.com.
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