Pleasant Grove Players presents Play On!—a farcical play within a play that uses the trials and delights of community theater as its medium.
I did a little research about the play within a play concept – the one I remember best is the hilarious Pyramus and Thisbe from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Is it always the play inside the play that’s the funnier of the two? I think so. It is in Play On! anyway.
To avoid confusion, let me explain.
A community theater group has a season that consists of one murder mystery, one musical, one comedy, and one drama. Currently, they are putting on the murder mystery, Murder Most Foul, which takes place in English upper society. Like all community theaters, they are desperate for money, so they accept a script from local playwright Phyl Montague, thinking they can make some extra cash. The tension and comedy in the show is that Phyl changes the script constantly, so the actors never know what they’re saying from rehearsal to rehearsal, and three days before opening night, they’re still confused and freaking out about it.
All the actors in Play On! are playing horrible, over-acting, over dramatic and in most cases, just plain awful actors. They point theatrically, they make faces that are supposed to look dramatic but often are just wrong, and they forget lines constantly. Though the pointing got a little repetitive, the characters in Murder Most Foul are what drive Play On! along.
The playwright, Phyl Montague, played perfectly by Dennis Purdie, was my favorite and I could hear the audience sigh with delight every time he came onstage. He had the sway, the self-absorbed married to every word playwright down – his facial expressions, the physical comedy – well, he was brilliant. He has been at PG Players since 1989 and this is his 30th show. I can see why they hold onto him.
Aggie, played by Heidi Lynn Cochran, was one of the characters that stayed herself throughout the play, a rather sane role considering all the other histrionics going on. However, Cochran has her share of physical comedy, is up to the task of arguing with the director, and constantly telling Phyl to cool it. I liked Aggie.
Scott Healy plays Gerry the director and he seemed very believable to me. He was just like every director I’ve ever worked with when things are not going well, right before opening night. Scott seemed very tight, with good timing. An enjoyable performance.
Krista Cooper, who played Louise the techie, did a good job, but it’s hard to play a techie, most of whom I’ve worked with are all business. Krista’s Louise seemed a little bland. But then, that could have been her interpretation of a techie. Which works.
Marty Cooper (Krista’s father, by the way) plays the actor Henry, who plays Lord Dudley. Cooper’s English accent slips regularly, but I was never able to tell if this was meant to happen because Henry is really a bad actor or what. A show like this keeps you guessing. However, I liked Henry and loved Lord Dudley, so kudos to Cooper.
Julie Hauwiller plays the actress Polly who plays Lady Margaret. Hauwiller is an excellent actress indeed to play such a horrible actress. Her gesticulating and eye movements and facial expressions while Lady Margaret are hilarious. And not to give too much away, but her wig – it takes a dedicated performer to show up onstage with something that looks like that on one’s head.
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Kara Henry plays Smitty who plays Doris the maid. She, too, is very willing to get onstage and look hilariously horrible as the teenage actress struck with stage fright. From her rapid, get me off stage quick lines to her physical antics the more frightened she becomes, she made everyone laugh.
Katie and Kyle Jepson play Violet (Diana) and Billy (Stephen), the lovers in the show. They were really funny, and being married, had the best chemistry in the show. Both were fresh-faced, confident, and a delight to watch.
Chase Taylor who plays Saul Watson who plays Dr. Rex Forbes was the biggest surprise in the show. As Saul, Taylor seemed almost flat. His bickering with Polly wasn’t very believable and it seemed almost as if Taylor didn’t care about Saul. But once he became Dr. Forbes, it’s like Taylor came alive. Asked to use both proper and Cockney English, and be drunk, he is really gifted. Lots of physical comedy, excellent timing, and real style. I’d like to see a little more of that in the Saul Watson character (let Polly have it a little more!) But Chase Taylor is one to watch. I look forward to seeing him in more shows.
What I liked about Play On! The space, which is a charming, clean, professional theater in Pleasant Grove Library’s first floor, is marvelous. The seats are an eensy bit too close to one another, row by row. But it is intimate and wonderful. The set was great, as were the costumes. The sound, praise be, was perfect (hard to find in almost any community theater) and the lighting was almost perfect – another feat.
What I would like to see a little improvement in was just the feel of the group of actors when they are not playing the characters in Murder Most Foul. It’s almost like they neglected the actors they were portraying and focused on the funny, bad acting of the play within the play. I wanted to see more bickerish attitude, as I was led to believe these same actors play in every show the company puts on. I wanted to see more of the familiarity, the teasing and sometimes out and out arguing that families do. It was there to a certain extent, but I’d like to see all the actors show a little more ease with one another – ease to be real, and sometimes really crabby.
All in all, I’d recommend Play On! to all ages, though I’d keep the little ones away (maybe eight years and older). There are two uses of “damn,” so be warned.
Play On! By Pleasant Grove Players
March 1-18 Monday, Thursday through Saturday, 7:30 PM. Saturday matinee on March 16, 3:00 PM.
Tickets are $10/Adults and $8/Students & Seniors (age 55 and older). Matinee is $1 less.
Keith Christeson Little Theater, 30 East Center St., Pleasant Grove, UT
801-376-3081, Email: pgplayers@pgplayers.com, http://www.pgplayers.com/index.html
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