The Island Packet, Friday, March 3, 2006, by Gail Westerfield

'Auntie and Me' laughs in the face of death, dying

If you can't laugh at the pain of life, how about chuckling nervously at the absurdities of death? "Auntie and Me," a dazzling play by Morris Panych at South Carolina Repertory Company, asks its audiences to put aside their squeamishness and fear about the Ultimate End and look at how love, when we let it, can open us up to living.

Kemp (Jim Stark) quits his job and travels (with a mysteriously empty suitcase) to his Aunt Grace's (Pat Haskell) bedside. Though she's sent a note saying that she's old and dying, (which he says he initially misreads as "yodeling") she appears to be fairly well. This does not deter her nephew from reading a grief book and loudly planning every aspect of her funeral and disposal of her remains, as well as getting her to sign a will, leaving everything -- which doesn't look like much -- to him. Though completely silent for most of the play, Auntie proves to be plenty spry as the seasons change, nipping from a bottle hidden under the covers, knitting a sweater, and putting on a little powder. "Why are you putting on make-up?" her nephew asks. "Why not let the mortician do that?"

A year and a half later, Auntie and the nephew still are there. At first, the play moves through a series of short scenes, ending with black outs after hilariously dark one-liners from Stark. Sitting on his suitcase, for example, he says, "Let's not talk about anything depressing. Do you want to be cremated?" As time passes and their affection for one another subtly grows, the play's humor changes, as the jokes turn from Kemp's eagerness for Grace's death to a hilarious, sad look at Kemp's freakish upbringing, one which left him so "resoundingly unpopular" that his favorite childhood toy was a hair dryer hood.

The key to the success of the humor here is that Stark does not try to gain the audience's sympathy or laugh at himself; both characterizations of Kemp's misanthropy would ruin the bizarre sympathy he manages to evoke from the audience. He excuses his neglectful parents in one respect, saying his mother's "hands were always pretty full, what with the cigarette and the Scotch," and his father "somehow knew he was going to die. Of course, he shot himself..." Even his attempts to hasten Grace's end -- which painfully backfire while she remains oblivious -- don't lessen the odd affection you can't help but feel for him.

The mordant humor might not be for everyone but "Auntie and Me" is the sort of play where you sometimes laugh because you can't believe you just laughed. It's not all dark, either. There's also some very well-wrought physical comedy and a very touching ending.

Barbara Farrar, familiar to SC Rep audiences in numerous roles, directs the show, her first at SC Rep, with a remarkably sure hand. The pacing is terrific; few things are as annoying as a play with overly long-blackouts between scenes, but that is never the case in Auntie and me. What's more, the brilliant performances Farrar gets from her actors indicates her own background as an actor.

Stark is phenomenal in a very difficult role, creating a character who's somehow both realistic and completely absurd, a pathetic loser and genuinely good guy. He carries the dialogue virtually the entire play, and in spite of the self-referential quality of the character, never winks at the audience or laughs at his own jokes. Haskell is perfect, too, conveying volumes with a look and never stooping to sentimentality.

The Island Packet, Friday, April 14, 2006, by Gail Westerfield

Young and old can enjoy 'Yellow Dog Crossing'

A truly great play can appeal to the child in us as well as children. It can make intricate literary allusions while remaining a simple, beautiful story.

"Yellow Dog Crossing" truly has something for everyone, and particular moments from the play will remain with you long after you leave the theater.

South Carolina Repertory Company veteran director Tom Evans' remarkable script is reason enough to see this play, running at South Carolina Rep through April 23. But excellent performances also abound, and the somewhat abstract set is a star in its own right.

Director Chip Egan, who directed "Yellow Dog Crossing" at its premiere in 1986, has a light but powerful touch with actors, eliciting dynamic performances and believable relationships, and he skillfully blocks them to create truly memorable images.

"Yellow Dog Crossing" is set in what the program notes call "a wide place in the road," in the rural South, 1903. The deceptively simple plot involves a young boy, Sambob (Winslow Mohr), who's sent to stay with his grandfather, Samuel Robert Kinkaid (Weldon Durham), when Sambob's father dies.

The elder Kinkaid was estranged for many years from Sambob's father -- though the audience does not learn why until late in the play -- and his failing health and sight are almost immediately restored by Sambob's arrival. Nell (Barbara Farrar) is Kinkaid's housekeeper and the reluctant object of his affection. Her nephew Vernon (Henry Layton) is a Bible salesman with woman troubles of his own, as evidenced by his love interest, Charlotte (Pamela Decker), a very pregnant teenager.

Evans' script is well-paced, balancing the laconic pace of the rural Southern life in simpler times with the excitement of the plays events, some as familiar as a thunderstorm and others as strange and thrilling as a shared secret.

The actors sound perfectly at home with hilarious colloquialisms like "ready to fall in bed like a gutted rooster," and "excited as a scalded dog." Durham is an especially strong presence on the stage, utterly believable whether he's tender or crotchety, loving or stubborn. He deftly manages allusions to Samson, King Lear, Icarus and Leonardo DaVinci, while portraying the grandfather any kid (and many adults) would have loved to have had. When decades of pent-up sadness and rage at his pride let loose near the play's end, it's deeply moving.

Farrar, who was memorably paired with Durham in "On Golden Pond" in 2002, works well with him again here, and creates a fully rounded portrait of a woman who is truly her own woman, so much more than the term "old maid" would imply. Tough as nails but with a huge heart, Nell also serves as an "Our Town"-like narrator, stepping out of the action occasionally to include the audience in the story.

Mohr is excellent from start to finish, first as an understandably angry boy, but then as one easily won over by chocolate pie and the attention of his strict but doting grandfather. Mohr doesn't have a single false note or overly precocious moment; his scenes with Durham in the "sycamore tree" and in the play's final moments, in fact, were more natural and restrained than many adult actors can manage.

Layton, who was utterly amazing in last year's "Greetings!," shows excellent comic timing and an odd sweetness. He and Decker are well-paired; she doesn't really look 15, but she balances naiveté well with strength, and genuinely seems ready to get the man she loves at any cost and play her part in the cycle of life and love.

Set design and construction, by Evans and Egan, deserve special notice, and Tony Penna's light design also was impressive and added more magic to this beautiful play.

The Island Packet, Friday, November 4, 2005, by Gail Westerfield

S.C. Repertory Company show 'Try's and succeeds

The holidays are here. Time to bring out the lights, the garlands, the festive fixings. And don't forget the family feuds.

Holiday visits put families in close quarters, which results in some awkward -- and often hilarious -- situations and personality clashes.

The play "Greetings!," opening Thursday at South Carolina Repertory Company's theater on Beach City Road, explores those family dynamics with comedy and a dash of Christmas magic, South Carolina Repertory Company founders Pat and Hank Haskell say.

"Greetings!' makes you think about life, death, Christmas, and celebrating diversity," says Pat Haskell.

"Greetings!," a Tom Dudzick play, premiered in New Jersey in the 1980s. The story, set in the 1950s, centers on Andy Gorski (Chip Egan), a Catholic who brings his young fiancé, Randi Stein (Jenni Rall), home to meet his parents (Sam Smiley and Barbara Farrar) for Christmas. The fact that Randi is an atheist from a Jewish family bodes for a bumpy holiday. And if that weren't enough to shake things up for the Gorskis, Andy's mentally handicapped brother, Mickey (Henry Layton), shocks the family with some revelations of his own.

"It starts off in a conventional way," says Tucson, Ariz.-based actor Sam Smiley. Smiley, who has appeared in plays, films and television series all over the world, is making his debut with South Carolina Repertory Company.

"As things start to happen, it's not very predictable," Smiley says of how the "Greetings!" plot unfolds.

As Hank Haskell puts it, "there are a few surprises, and it results in a very pleasant ending, in spite of lots of crises."

Director Tom Evans, a regular at South Carolina Repertory Company, says "Greetings!" is an alternative to traditional holiday productions, but it still is in keeping with the Christmas spirit. Miracles and magic are not forgotten, he says.

"Mickey transmogrifies in the presence of the audience into what is something like an archangel," Evans says, while declining to reveal any more details about the story.

Actor Chip Egan, who is portraying Andy, says "Greetings!" gives a tacit nod to faith and religion.

"It's a well-honored tradition in American (holiday) entertainment to tip your hat to toward people of faith without being specific," says Egan, who also has appeared in and directed several other plays with South Carolina Repertory Company.

"'Greetings!' celebrates the spirit of every religious holiday," Egan says. "It is a play that reaffirms what all religions aspire to, which is peace, honor and goodwill toward people."

In addition to Egan and Smiley, "Greetings!" also features Jenni Rall, a newcomer to South Carolina Repertory Company, in the role of Randi. Rall, of Austin, Texas, is a member of the Hyde Park Theatre company and also is a contributing producer for the upcoming PBS series, "In Context." Another newcomer, Henry Layton, in the role of Mickey, hails from Louisiana. Layton, a stuntman with the United Stuntman's Association, also is a certified teacher of stage combat and has appeared in regional theater productions across the country. Barbara Farrar, as Emily Gorski, is making her fifth appearance with South Carolina Repertory Company. Her 50-year theater career includes a plethora of off-Broadway appearances, as well as teaching and directing.

Pat Haskell designed the costumes for South Carolina Repertory Company's production of "Greetings!," while Evans designed the set.

Evans says the production's warm message will appeal to people of all faiths and backgrounds.

"A Jew or a Catholic or an atheist can come to the show, and everyone can go home feeling good," he says.

The Island Packet, Friday, November 4, 2005, by Gail Westerfield

S.C. Repertory Company show 'Try's and succeeds

The story of a May-December friendship between a crusty, once-great lawyer and judge and his spunky new secretary -- more than 50 years his junior -- could be a very trying play to sit through. But South Carolina Repertory Company's production of Joanna McClelland Glass' fine work, "Trying," continues the company's tradition of presenting excellent plays with talented actors in an intimate setting.

Playwright Glass' own experience as Judge Francis Biddle's personal secretary from 1967-68 inspired the play. Biddle was the Attorney General under Franklin D. Roosevelt and a judge in the Nuremberg trials. He is 81 at the time of the play and seems to be both resigned to his death and struggling to reconcile himself to it. Sarah, fresh from the Canadian prairie, is just 25 years old and is in many ways the complete opposite of the brilliant, fussy, occasionally abusive Biddle. The respect they find for each other through the course of the play from a gradual warming to one another over the course of the play. In a subtle, and therefore believable, way, each changes through their relationship with the other, evolving beyond their initial differences through "trying" to find their way in the world -- and out of it -- together.

The writing is sharp -- lyrical at times -- and realistic, even as it offers a look at a life and times many in the audience might not have been familiar with. Their conversations are peppered with literary allusions, the two characters deal with the issues of their time, relationships, and all kinds of loss.

At its core is the concept of "trying" in many senses. Each finds the other to be a "trying" individual to deal with in the beginning, but the larger ideas concern human attempts both to connect and to protect self, struggles to overcome life's obstacles and the many fears inherent in every life.

J. Michael Craig is simply flawless as Judge Biddle. At least three decades younger than the character he plays, he renders Biddle's frustration with the deterioration of his body and mind with extraordinary skill. As impressive as his physical performance is -- particularly the use of his hands and his wearying lame leg -- Craig also renders difficult passages of dialogue beautifully and with perfect patrician diction and enunciation. Biddle's complex character is not always likeable, particularly when he berates Sarah for what he perceives to be her inferior education and intelligence. But Craig handles these nuances expertly, never going for the easy choices of "loveable curmudgeon" or "impossible grumpy old man." His groans in the first part of the play seem clearly designed in part to elicit sympathy, so they are all the more poignant near the end of the play when Biddle very clearly is in real, excruciating pain and needs Sarah's care and attention much more than he might like to admit. As the fight drains out of him, the light fades from Craig's eyes and his inevitable end, "all passion spent," as he says, is poignant but inevitable, without a hint of false sentiment.

Tracy Jo Junghauser's role is in some ways the more difficult, in that she simply says less and it is for the most part reactive to the bravura Biddle role. In spite of this, Glass has created a good part in this autobiographical character and Junghauser portrays Sarah with strength and intelligence. Like Craig, she resists obvious choices, so her Sarah is sympathetic but not adorable or corny.

Tom Evans' direction is strong, but he proves especially capable at finding a balance between the sometimes elevated language and a realism that makes the characters compelling. Like his actors, Evans has clearly focused the telling of the story on the human dimension, not settling for stereotypes and sentiment. No element of Biddle's wit or the humor inherent in his and Sarah's struggle to form a relationship was lost on the appreciative audience. He also handles the blocking well in what could otherwise be a very static, talk-y play on the small, object-filled set.

The set is, as always in S.C. Repertory productions, especially impressive, given the size of the space with which Evans, who designed it, had to work. Don't leave the space without checking out the amazing photographs on the walls of Biddle's office. Like so much in this fine production, this attention to detail contributes to a truly great theatrical experience.