(09/18/00 9:36pm)
The Bloomington Playwrights Project opened their 2000-01 season Friday evening with "Sunflower Town" - an ambitious piece from University of Iowa Masters of Fine Arts candidate Kara Hartzler. Hartzler's work examines a small town; nicknamed "Sunflower Town" because of the "higher quality of life" offered to its generations of residents, yet the play taps into the exact opposite of what this town is supposed to be and the dysfunctional relationships within.\n"Sunflower Town" is composed of a series of encounters between people, strung together by music and a police officer's report on the wrongdoing occurring in each situation.\nAlthough dotted with carefully crafted humor, the piece offers a rather sad commentary on personal interaction: the poor and sometimes inhumane way men, women and children treat each other -revenge, judgment, bitterness, seclusion, jealousy and their emotional repercussions. Each character harbors personal limitations, whether they originate from within themselves, others, their situations or their beliefs. The result is a sincere and touching exhibition of life's victims, trying to survive in an inept social setting.\nHartzler has been awarded the Iowa Arts fellowship and the 1999 Richard Maibaum playwriting award thus far in her career. But, as with many new plays, the script is not without its flaws. The crux of many of the scenes depends too heavily on the performers, which is a gamble from cast to cast. There are also pieces of dialogue that seem conversationally awkward, interrupting the flow of action. Such textual problems as these are easily remedied with time and rewrites. Fortunately, the Bloomington Playwrights Project is a valuable place and opportunity for works in progress, and none of these flaws are weighty enough to sink the show.\nThe cast has talented individuals who bring out the play's spirit beautifully despite its flaws, and with rumored very little rehearsal time under the direction of Sue Kim and assistant direction of cast member Eric Price.\n"Sunflower Town" relies on the performers because of its episodic nature, and the ensemble rises to the challenge of developing the show's unique personality. Particularly impressive characters come from junior Mary Hubbell Carothers, who appeared at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in 1999 in both "The Scrooge Variations," and "Angel of Lemnos." Majoring in theatre and drama, Carothers showcases a wide performance range - especially in her vengeful, gossipy hairdresser with a striking singing voice. Also worthy of mention is Candace L. Johnson, a theater graduate from James Madison University. Johnson exercises seasoned comedic timing and taps into the three-dimensionality of her characters.\nOther notable performances include those of seniors George R. Bookwalter and Kurt S. Schlachter, who master the physical mannerisms of characters three times their ages.\nBookwalter's "Pastor" is filled to the brim with humorous characterization, and Schlachter's dry, soft-spoken humor prove valuable to the ensemble. \n"Sunflower Town" is still growing for both the playwright and actors and will age well through its run. \nTickets available at the door or by phone at (812) 334-1188. Student tickets are $7. The show runs September 15-17, 21-24, 28-Oct. 1: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
(08/25/00 4:54am)
Sandwiched into the quaint, yet bustling Nashville shopping strip, the Brown County Playhouse always manages to put on an eclectic summer season for its patrons. Their most recent hit is "It Runs in the Family," an intelligent and wonderfully performed British farce by Ray Cooney, which was directed by Bruce Burgun.\nThe storyline itself is alive, on fire with mistaken identities, cover-ups, bald-faced lies and illegitimate children. The entire production, set in an upstairs hospital administrative office, achieves a uniquely spontaneous and lively feel, making it not only fun to watch but extremely memorable. Even if farce is not an audience member's cup of tea, the brand of humor is highly interactive and modernized just enough to attract anyone to what this show has to offer.\nThe play revolves around a past affair between Dr. David Mortimore and a former nurse at his hospital, Jane Tate. Tate returns to inform Mortimore that he fathered an illegitimate son from that affair. The boy, Leslie, is a troublesome 18-year-old cockney punk with a magenta mohawk, leather jacket, chains, piercings and a violent desire to find his biological father. Because of an upstanding position in the medical profession and what seems to be a good relationship with his wife of over eighteen years, Mortimore resorts to an array of creative and highly detailed lies to mask an almost two-decade-old deception. Chaos ensues that cannot be included here in order to preserve the integrity of suspense and masterful plot construction of a good farce. The plot assembles a dozen entertaining characters in so far over their heads that even the audience gets exhausted in watching them handle the situation.\n"It Runs in the Family" sports a near-flawless ensemble of University and community talents. An IU graduate with an MFA in acting, Wolf Sherill shines as David Mortimore, applying a degree of suaveness, integrity and creative finesse to a highly imaginative character. Sherill's credits include IU Mainstage shows "Suddenly Last Summer" and "A Winters Tale," previous Playhouse shows such as "Of Mice and Men," "Wait Until Dark," "Not Now Darling" and most recently, the BCP show, "Moon Over Buffalo."\nAlso worthy of attention is IU graduate Eric "Happy" Anderson. Anderson plays Hubert Bonney, one of Mortimore's wackier, more clueless colleagues who becomes tightly wrapped in the cover-up. The audience cannot help but fall in love with Anderson\'s character, which he orchestrates out of a combination of simple-mindedness, nervous humor and a great deal of heart. \nIU talents include junior Jackson Bloom with his hysterical interpretation of Leslie and junior Peter Gerharz, a sometimes-gullible police sergeant with a fabulous final monologue and an uncanny ability to make himself the butt of some of the more physical humor in the show. IU graduate Dennis Black delivers an impeccably timed humorous performance of Bill Leslie, an elder, wheelchair-confined patient who is consistently nearly pushed off the stage, causing some of the front-row patrons to duck and cover.\nThe cast also includes Masters students Caroline Klein, Melissa Nedell and Kelly Ann Ford, community actors Steve Heise, AMDA educated Alan Craig, BHS South Theatre Dept. director Mary Forrester-Kinzer-Galvin-Sylvester, and Bernodette Robinson-Kinzer. The set, built by the hands of the IU scene shop regulars and summer school stagecraft class, is beautifully constructed and very practical in accommodating some of the strenuous action of the show.\n"It Runs in the Family" will be running through Saturday. Tickets are available at the door or by calling 988-2123. Friday and Saturday admission prices are $14.50 for adults and $7.50 for children.