Theater's 'Second Helpings' warrants thirds

A trip to the local community theater is often an unpredictable test of patience and intrigue. \nAt best, the show is worth sacrificing a few hours for enthralling entertainment. At worst, the show induces the viewers' eyes to roll back into their heads. \n"Second Helpings," four one-act plays retrieved from the Bloomington Playwrights Project vault to commemorate 25 years of new and often home-grown theatrical drama, does both at times, although the show is worth the ticket price at best.\nFirst in the night's lineup is "Graduation Day," written by James Serpento and produced in the BPP's Black Box Theatre in the fall of 1987. The story pits brothers Tom and Jerry against one another amid the crowd of their sister Gina's high school graduation. Troy Jones' portrayal of Tom combined with Brian Schutz's portrayal of Jerry is both awkward because the script calls for a defined and antagonistic polarization between the two brothers, and superb because of the script's overlapping dialogue and required emotional intensity.\nViewers beware: Tom and Jerry's dialogue contains masculine-speak of a vulgar and feminine-demeaning nature as the beer flows and obscenity spews. Although "Graduation Day" seems to carry on with little sense of worldly significance, the momentum created from the brother's interpersonal conflict blends itself well into the one-act plays to come.\nThe second play of the show, "Carry On," written by Doug Bedwell and produced in 2003 as part of the BPP's Dark Alley Series, focuses on a suicide-bombing plot that exchanges hands in an empty waiting area of an airport. Arthur, played by Andrew Rhoda, and Melissa, played by rising star Amy Welding, revitalize a weary audience concerned with whether or not the show was worth the trip to the theatre, because their ability to compliment one another as strangers is tantalizing. \nRhoda's performance as a gasket salesman who chooses death over his wife is natural and believable, and the actor's shining attribute is his ability to go all-out with his heart exposed on his shirtsleeve. Welding also contributes a heroic performance that leaves the audience stifled and sniffling as the play concludes.\n"Hand On Mirror," the third one-act and an enjoyable play before a brief intermission, whips the audience into a frenzy as the characters Robin, played by Deb Durham, and Terry, played by Patrick D. Murphree battle one another for emotional supremacy within the confines of "an apartment near you." Produced in 1979 as the BPP's first production and written by Jim Poyser, the performance involves a magnificent rapport between actors and maddening dramatic action before the show concludes with a blacked-out stage.\nUnlike some full-length plays that rise and then fall and then rise again, only to trail off at the end, "Hand On Mirror" finishes off a rise-rise-rise performance atmosphere that leaves the audience anxious and hopeful of the "Second Helpings" finale.\n"Joe's Friendly," written by Bruce Gadansky and winner of a 1984 BPP playwriting contest, concludes 25 years of Bloomington community theater highlights. Mirroring the same length as the three one-act plays earlier in the show, the play involves the last evening of the local service station before corporate America buys out the remaining neighborhood pillar. Carmine DePaolo's portrayal of Joe Maseen, the service station owner, is magnificent, and his acting provides a wonderful pivot to the chorus of supporting talent that winds through the shop like a revolving door. \nThe character Teddy Willis, played by Andrew Rhoda, is humorous and enjoyable to watch. Rhoda's acting -- as was the case in "Carry On" -- is tremendous and he again compliments Amy Welding's sexified portrayal of Kitty Bush, the only woman in an all-male grease monkey setting. "Joe's Friendly," most importantly, engages the audience from the moment the play opens and provides the viewers with a genuine view of 1950s American life when neighbor-to-neighbor communication was more important than a shiny and clean bathroom at the corner gas station.\nA time indeed, Joe tells the audience, "when Americans didn't stop by the local service station to poop." As the curtain closes on "Second Helpings" so does 25 years of Bloomington community theater. \nThe audience is left wondering, is it rude to ask for thirds?