Deborah
Martin
San Antonio Express-News
Maybe the playwrights have gotten a better feel for the
10-minute format; maybe this year's theme was more
enticing.
Whatever the reason, the offerings in the second outing of
the SAT Playwrights PlayFest — titled "The Subject Was Texas" — are
much stronger than those presented last year. All eight short plays
are imaginative and well thought out, and most are laugh-out-loud
funny.
The festival opens with "Tall Tale #5," an appealing piece
written by D.A. Carr and directed by Kathleen Lovejoy. In it, a guy
who fancies himself a Wild West character (Kirk Forester) spins
stories for a bright-eyed young reporter (Kathleen O'Neal) until his
ex-wife (Lucia McRae) pops in and punctures every one of
them.
Next up is J.C. Laurence's gloriously silly "The Weredillo
Hunter," directed by Sarah Coyle. A trio of college kids (Patrick
Cardenas, Christopher Manley and Alex Graham) spending Spring Break
in West Texas run across a seemingly off-kilter Hunter (a gleeful
turn from James McRae) seeking the "weredillo," a cross between a
werewolf and an armadillo.
"Born to Hang," written by Michael William Mulnix and
directed by Latrelle Bright, is another amusing piece about three
friends (Gerald Williams, Desi Childers and Cardenas) on the run
from the law. Mulnix gleans lots of laughs from the shorthand the
guys have with each other, and the woman's exasperation with them
both.
"The War Came Marching Home," written by Andrew Denny and
directed by Les Steubing, is one of two dramas in the festival. This
one is set during the Civil War, and has a wounded Union soldier
(Ryan Ripley) seeking shelter in the home of a woman (Erin Bendele)
whose husband is fighting for the South. It's a quiet, humane
piece.
"Gilgamesh and the Bull of College Station," written by
Charles J. Eichman and directed by Steubing, is another loopy piece
about what happens when the ancient king of Uruk (Kareem El Dahab)
and his trusty (if a tad bit snarky) sidekick Enkidu (Cardenas)
somehow find themselves in modern Texas, seeking to do battle with a
legendary bull. Some of the piece's goofy charm wears in places, so
it could bear some trimming, but overall it's pretty
funny.
"Blues Before Sunrise," written by Antoinette Winstead and
stylishly directed by Bright, is the other dramatic piece. In it, a
clearly tormented man (Forester) and his wife (Jackie Welch) share a
dance that ends in violence, an encounter that he lives over and
over in his booze-addled mind. It's a lean, sophisticated
piece.
"Once Upon a Table," written by Modrea Mitchell-Reichert
and directed by Coyle, is an agreeably silly piece about a day in
the life of a couple of condiments. Mister Mustard (Steubing) and
Miss Ketchup (Graham) have their little world rocked by the arrival
of the spicy Señorita Salsa (O'Neal).
The festival ends with "Bad Salsa," written by Eichman and
directed by Lovejoy, a deliriously funny combo of the spaghetti
Western and "Walker, Texas Ranger." Bubba Noir (Lucia McRae)
investigates the suspicious death of a man who consumed some bad
salsa, "salsa with a score to settle."
It ends the festival on just the right
note. |