PlayFest “Incubates” 12th Year of Local Talent

Friday- Sunday, June 2-4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Orcas Grange

–by Margie Doyle —

Aaimee Johnson, Orcas Island Actors Theater’s 2017 PlayFest coordinator, announced to a full house on Opening Night, “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster.” Whatever rehearsals may have been like, the PlayFest itself is a roller coaster of inventiveness, creativity, satire, compassion, social commentary, and farce – and the cherry on the top this year is a modern opera, set to ukulele.

“2.5 kids” was written by Kat Fennell (under the influence of Gordon Koenig) and sung beautifully by Danica Coffman and Justin West as the married couple dueling between her desire to plant a garden and his passion for the open seas. They are accompanied dramatically by Thumper on the ukulele and Keith Leight on the rhythm box. Kat’s simple writing, and positioning the dilemma many married couples face as an opera, is brilliantly clever and humane. Directed by Jim Shaffer-Bauck.

“TJ” by James Wolf is a simply profound statement on the heartbreak of unexpected pregnancy and the demands of love. Wolf tells the tale from the viewpoint of an older man writing his memoirs. John Mazzarella’s turn as the memoirist is complemented by the quiet dignity and humanity of actors Adia Dolan and Evan Erskine. Michele Griskey directs “TJ.”

“Emerald City,” written by Corey Homewood and directed by Doug Bechtel and Kristin Wilson, stars Liz Doane as the untrusting Heron, Justin West as the diplomatic philosopher, Salmon, and Mackenzie Halfman as the courageous Cougar in a post-apocalyptic Seattle, where trust is as important as food or water to survival. “It’s nice being alive,” one character says, and it seems profound. Special notice should be given to the backdrop, an expressive view of Seattle with dark rain and random dangers.

In “Wedding Dances,” written by Tom Fiscus, Indy Zoeller portrays with an easy grace the confidence of a young man trained at an early age to love to dance. Perhaps even greater acting ability is shown by Alyssa Flaherty, as an awkward wedding guest. Zoeller conveys the joy and ease of moving to music, as taught by his mother, while Flaherty gamely resists his persuasions. The progression of the play is never certain, and its conclusion is richly satisfying. Brian Richard directs.

“Open House at Murder Mansion,” written by Mac Smith and directed by Andy Martin, is a hoot, thanks to the wordless staging of Kevin Doyle as an intruder when real estate agent Alyssa Flaherty shows prospective buyers Maura O’Neill, Pegi Groundwater, Thumper, Mardy Lopez, Pat Ayers, and Bella Schermerhorn through a haunted “live” property. The play is a satire on the unique island real estate market and the fate that awaits these buyers.

“Needs New Battery” is a two-person play acted by Adia Dolan and Keith Light. Clever costuming sets the tone for this often-familiar scenario, written by Cara Russell, of technology maddening rather than facilitating or safeguarding its users. Dolan and Light have a physicality to their acting talents that sweeps the audience right up with them as they madly seek a solution to their problem. “Needs New Battery” is directed by Aaimee Johnson.

In “What’s New” by Miguel Villareal, one caveman character asks, “Don’t you wish you could invent something that would change the world?” Thus, actors Kevin Doyle, Pat Ayers, Bethany Marie, Brita Brahce, Evan Erskine and Linda Ellsworth romp though a hilarious prehistoric drama. Costumes by Pat Ayers and the set backdrop by Miguel Villareal take the audience right back to the days of yesteryore, and the music evokes a comedic perspective to the primeval scenes of “2001: a Space Odyssey.” “What’s New” is also directed by Aaimee Johnson.

PlayFest 2017 is amazing, varied, and fun. Bechtel describes the event as an incubator for playwrights, actors, and directors to initiate themselves into the world of drama. At the Actors Theater at the Grange, it seems like great homegrown fun with sparks of brilliant talent, creativity and insight along the way.

The seven PlayFest works are produced with technical expertise of lights and sound by Doug Bechtel and Cara Russell; Hair and Makeup by Carol Whitbeck and Kim Secunda, and Stage Crew by Paula Capitano, Alice Hachee, Jeannie Pollock, Susie Shipman, and Lea Richardson.

If you want to experience “authentic” Orcas Island culture, be sure you catch the 12th Annual PlayFest. It continues, Saturday night, May 27 and next weekend, June 2, 3, and 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Orcas Grange.

For additional information on Actors Theater of Orcas Island, contact Doug Bechtel at 317-5601 or visit www.orcasactors.org