I mostly enjoyed myself while watching Town and Country Players’ recent collection one act plays. Due to its unique nature this will essentially be 5 separate mini reviews:
DEATH KNOCKS
DEATH KNOCKS was a very funny exchange between a man and his own personal Death. James Kirkwood was strong as the soon to be late Nat Ackerman and Aaron Wexler was funny as the awkward Death that awaited him. Both actors made good use of the stage. Other than an extremely awkward sound effect it was very well done.
LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS
LOVERS starts off as a conversation that almost every married couple I believes have had at least once and then goes way over the top. Alicia Landis did a fantastic job as the sassy sex-deprived Wilma. David Martin did an equally good job as the chauvinistic salesman husband. While being a bit of an odd scene, the actors did a fantastic job. My only complaint is a mild disjunction between the dialogue (sounding very 1960’s ish), and the Costumes (Modern, especially the angry bird boxers)
THE COUNCIL OF RICHARD
COUNCIL was a very powerful, very maudlin tale. Fred Connover Jr. played a perfect Young Richard. Rusty Flounders was a terrifically angry Middle Richard. James Palmer was an amazingly wizened and and kind Elder Richard. The scene was perfectly lit and was very believable. It’s a scene I’d love to see the two younger actors play out again in another 20 years.
A WAY WITH WORDS
WORDS was my least favorite of the night. The blocking was awkward at best, one character had their back literally to half the audience for the entirety of their time on stage. The actors themselves did good work, though all seemed just a tad too old for the dialogue that was written. Joe Landy, Davider Sharper and Valerie Sharper were all very good on their timing and sounded honest when they said their lines.
POST-ITS (NOTES ON A MARRIAGE)
POST-ITS was an emotional roller coast from top to bottom. It took me around a minute to figure out what was going on and once I did I knew it was going to end in one of two ways. That didn’t make me feel any better when I almost started crying at the end. Cody Freeman and Page Ridgeway were both fabulous and fantastic in every way possible. They made amazing use of their space, you believed every line they said (and “wrote”) as the scene progressed.
AN EVENING OF ONE ACT PLAYS is exactly as you would expect: most of the moments are good, a few less so, but still very much worth the time.
AN EVENING OF ONE ACT PLAYS:
DEATH KNOCKS
By Woody Allen
Directed by Elliot Simmons
LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS
By Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna
(John and Wilma Scene)
Directed by Reva Kazman
THE COUNCIL OF RICHARD
By William Burt
Directed by Fred Conover
A WAY WITH WORDS
By Frank D. Gilroy
Directed by Maurizio Giammarco
POST-ITS (Notes on a Marriage)
By Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzman
Directed by Christopher Wehba
Producer: Nancy Ridgeway
November 15-17, 2013
Town and Country Players
4158 York Road
Buckingham, PA
Reservations at: 1-800-838-3006 or at
http://www.townandcountryplayers.org/
