THEATER 70
-summer 2003
It had been two years since i’d turned directorship of the Orpheus Players over to Donna McDonald. I’d stayed in touch, had seen most of their plays, and even written a newspaper review of one. They continued to do good, often powerful, material. Their leadership tripod consisted of Donna, Amanda, and Mark List. In the months following the Red Curtain demise, Donna approached me regularly to come home. I demurred, feeling it would be a step backward. They’d moved to The Holmes House, a restaurant further down the beach, which had a separate performing space. Finally, Donna offered a project that caught my attention. She wanted to have a troupe do weekly comedy improv. I was beginning to make plans to move to New York - my brother John lived in Jersey City, and had invited me to stay. WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? was one of my favorite shows ever though, and i had never really tested my improv chops. It seemed a minimal investment for hopefully a lot of fun and growth, so i joined, and also contributed to an evening of monologues. The troupe consisted of Donna, Mark, Amanda, Carrie Hill from BURIED CHILD, her husband Brad, and myself. Brad was great, we got along real well. He’d never done any acting, but after some initial stiffness, he blossomed. There were also occasional players, among them Tammy, Alexis, Robin, John, and Lucy Harris. Lucy was double-takingly good, and a delight to be around. Only eighteen, she already had much experience, including several of her own shows produced. The evening of monologues had Donna doing “Angry Vagina” from THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, and the Wendy piece from GOD’S SPIES. Amanda did a Kevin Smith abortion piece, and one about learning to love her vagina (through the attentions of afficionado Bob). Mark did a SEINFELD compilation about dating, and a piece about a man who’d been an angry protestor until he’d been committed and electro-shocked. Sheryl Ruppert did pieces from CHICAGO and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. I was worried about chemistry with her, for she was bitterly angry with me after i’d turned down a role in a production of EXTREMITIES, because i didn’t agree with the casting. We talked, and began the healing process. Our final monologuist was Carrie, who played a very funny would-be socialite, and an out-of-work geisha coming to America to be an exotic dancer. For my pieces, i chose LETTERS FROM THE EARTH, by Mark Twain. I played Satan, writing home to the other archangels. I wanted to do the character as Twain wrote it – thoroughly erudite, and naked. Nudity, however, would have to wait until New York, and i bowed to the wishes of my troupe-mates with a more stereotypical Satan, with southern accent and the horns-and-tail bit. I adapted it myself, doing a compilation of the first three letters, and Letter 8 for my second piece. In full red/black face makeup, i got a lot of very nice feedback. The improv nights, which ran for a couple of months, were generally a hoot. We incorporated audience participation, and did games like “Party Quirks”, “Driving in a Car”, “Human Clay”, and “Group Therapy”. I was happy with my work, and surprised at how well the troupe did. Chris and John, professional stagehands, did our lights and sound, and they were great company. I was concerned with pre-show drinking among a few actors, but there was never any full-on train wreck. I was the only one to never miss a performance. We had fantastic audiences, and the show was rousingly received.
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