|
The New Embassy Theatre successfully closed its fourth annual one-act play
festival on Apr. 11th with three puckish pieces. This year's offerings
displayed a variety of quality in writing, acting and directing. The
highlight of the evening came with "Molasses Toast & French Fried Eels"
written by Scot Walker and directed by Mark Baker. Walker toyed with the
audience's assumptions about death and eternal rewards through the actors'
musings about discovering the moments and manners of their respective
deaths.
Richard Wydro, a very capable and experienced last-minute
replacement for the lead part, gave the strongest performance, leading the
other players through a scripted series of guided imagery exercises of life
review. Tom Shanklin expertly delivered the funniest lines of the piece,
examining the confusions of his character's complicated, closeted duplicity.
Wayne Smith, Sr., showed masterful control, evoking strong and convincing
emotion to close the play. As the waitress slinging the toast and eels,
Robin Vereen added a skillful supporting role. Unfortunately, the play is
not quite convincing. After seeing two others spill their secrets, why would
the guiltiest person be tempted to reveal all? The play conveys a naïve,
moralistic final message that there is hell on earth for miscreants. There
are far too many blissful psychopaths who contradict the playwright's
playful Halloween message. Still, Smith's final scream was memorable acting.
"The Oldest Profession," written by Blair Llwelleyn, presents an
entertaining final plot twist. Jay Atkinson's portrayal of the politician
was restrained and complemented the capable work of Cindi Pownall as the
politician's wife. Angela Merrithew swished in and out as the convincing,
voluptuous blackmailer. Under the capable direction of Richard Wydro,
Merrithew avoided the temptation to turn the part into a tawdry flesh
display.
"Who's the Hostage" lacked luster but had some enjoyable moments. Stephanie
Gainer and Charro McMillan made noble attempts to add spark to the
misogynistic script. Sadly, the choice of pantomime for Mark Ashby and
Patrick Crites left the audience wondering about the players' true acting
abilities. Director Adam Casey might want to reconsider the pantomime
technique for future productions.
Community theater in Allegany County lives through the efforts of the New
Embassy and a few other underfunded companies. The one-act festival
showcases the vibrant actors, writers and directors in our community. It was
sad to hear that our county commissioners chose to display their lack of
appreciation for the arts by refusing to send even a few of our tax dollars
in the direction of the New Embassy which could really use a few dollars for
better stage sets. |
