WILDEST DREAMS at Langhorne Players is a beautiful little stroll through the psychology of four role-playing friends and the chaos an extra person brings to their group. The show starts off funny before making quick and sudden darker and darker emotional twists and turns.
Director Jack Bathke’s vision of WILDEST DREAMS is fantastic and well executed. Upon entering the theater you notice the three separate settings which are all well executed. With floating windows and traps doors the set is a character in and of itself with the only oddity being some empty picture frames. Set changes are seamless and well done and the blocking and overlapping of dialogue and scenes happening at different parts of the stage make for some extra treats for the viewers. Lighting (Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski) and sound (Mary Alice Williams) were fantastic and spot-on.
Rupert Hinton (Stanley Inchbridge) is wonderful as the leader of the group and is quite funny. Hinton’s voice commands attention and it works wonderfully to convey his emotions.
John Pinto (Austen Skate) is great as the eelish badgering brother-in-law/roommate. Pinto pulls off a level of sleazy that is hard to reach for most but also manages to get some honest reactions out of the audience.
Cody Ayrer (Warren Wrigley) really takes Warren to an interesting place. You can honestly believe his infatuation with Marcie and he does the most hilarious boyhood “shame” walk I have ever seen on stage. A perfect interpretation that any nerd who has lusted to be unique can relate to.
Rupert Hinton (Stanley) and Marie Maginity (Hazel) in Langhorne Players’ WILDEST DREAMS.
Marie Maginity (Hazel Inchbridge) has great comedic timing and brought some surreal humor to the show. My only complaint is that her “child” voice was hard to understand at the beginning of the show, but it became easier to understand as the show went on.
Florence Mitchell (Thelma Wrigley) is barely more then a voice visually but she is hilarious as the devoted mother of Warren.
Leann Wintermute (Rick Toller) was amazing as Rick; she brought a gravitas to the character that made her quite believable as a person who obviously suffered through something terrible.
Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski (Marcie Banks) was perfect as the bewitching newcomer Marcie. With a natural charm you can see why she is the catalyst for as many events as Marcie is and she delivers all of lines with perfect timing and emotion.
Jack Bathke makes a brief and terrifying cameo, but I won’t ruin the surprise.
For anyone who has ever wanted to escape from reality, ever tried their hands at RPG whether it be Final Fantasy or Dungeons & Dragons, or ever wanted to just watch a small cast fade away into characters becoming characters, then WILDEST DREAMS is the perfect choice. Don’t roll the dice on this show — see it while you can.
WILDEST DREAMS
by Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Jack Bathke
July 18- August 2, 2014
Langhorne Players
Spring Garden Mill, Tyler State Park
Route 332, 1440 Newtown-Richboro Road
Newtown, PA 18940
215.860.0818
http://www.langhorneplayers.org/
Author’s Bio:
