Actors, Playwrights and Directors Shine in PlayFest

— a Review by Margie Doyle —

On Opening Night of 2014 PlayFest, the Actors Theater of Orcas Island presented a spectrum of theater experiences that enraptured the audience with its flights of fancy, soul-felt conflicts and bittersweet memories.

PlayFest is a theater event, yes, and it is also the quintessential Orcas event. It gives islanders a stage upon which to mount their own literary creations or try (or resume) their acting chops, and to direct the action of the imagined characters.

This year, Cara Russell again directed thePlayFest tapestry, after a play selection committee chose seven submissions from island writers. The polished opening night performances took the audience to:

a comfortable, but bickering couple who dare to dream with cheap wine, interruptive music and the wide world of the internet (“Hammerfest Date Night” by Cara Russell, directed by Creighton Hofeditz);
a weirdly modern retelling of the Faustian legend (“Mephisto Waltz #1” by Brigid Ehrmantraut, directed by Cara Russell);
a double-cross in which righteousness is turned on its head (“A Dish Served Cold” by Tom Fiscus, directed by Kristen Wilson);
a cautionary farce about where we look for answers to our problems ( “Night Lights” by Rick Markov, directed by Lin McNulty);
a macabre dinner party, rich with physical comedy and clever repartee (“Main Course” by Michele Griskey, directed by Gillian Smith);
a late-night visit between former friends, fraught with anxiety and self-torment (“Prelude to Notoriety” by Rebecca Herman, directed by Ron Herman);
a Christmas-day trip with a sweet, thoughtful woman, whose memories keep her company (“Four Christmases” by James Wolf, directed by Cara Russell).

The “stars” shone out: many of the actors were new to PlayFest, and many former actors took directing turns this time. New playwrights Tom Fiscus, Rick Markov, and Rebecca Herman brought original turns to the deals with the devil we all feel called upon to make in our lives.

Playwright Rick Markov and Director Lin McNulty held a loose rein on “their” actors and the resulting production is quirky, sly and hilarious. Michele Griskey’s typically far-out comedy brings Brian Richard and Adam Thomas as a couple professing their 11th-hour love for, and irritation with, each other. Gillian Smith took a break from acting to direct this crazy “crime scene.”

Newcomer Eric Eagan and pro Robert Hall played off each with an immediacy of presence that brought the action to a boiling point in their play; while Actors Theater veterans Larry Coddington and Cele Westlake brought us right into their comfortable, penny-pinching, quarrelsome relationship (wait –they’re not married?)

Kelly Toombs, in two roles, brought off a sinister Machiavellian presence, and a deeply-troubled nightclub owner, in two amazing performances. And Elane Phipps brought down the house (if wiping away tears counts), in her tour de force in James Wolf’s play.

As Vince Monaco, in the audience, pointed out, PlayFest brings an evening of drama and comedy to life in a way many who are involved in theater never experience. It takes commitment, yes, but also huge belief and courage to make it happen as meaningfully and successfully as this year’s PlayFest does.

Outstanding job and standing ovation to Cara Russell and her family of theater-lovers!

The plays will be presented at the Grange on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, April 25 – May 4. On Sunday April 27, pay what you can at the door. Tickets are $10, and all performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors open at 7 p.m.

For parents who like to stick to the rating system, the event is PG 13, for some mild but choice words that will appear in certain plays.

The Sunday April 27th performance is ‘pay what you can’ at the door only. Tickets can be purchased for $10 at Darvill’s Bookstore or online.

For additional information contact Cara Russell via email.

NOTE: In the spirit of keeping community theater alive, no one is ever turned away from an Actors Theater performance at the Grange for inability to pay.