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Messed-up Families and Torrid Affairs
IT’S A DARKLY FUNNY TIME IN LOCAL THEATER
By Dina Canup arts@flagpole.com
The Long Christmas Ride Home This play is more than an
homage to uncomfortable holiday gatherings and dysfunc
tional family travels, though the New York Times called it
“To Grandmother’s House We Go (With Baggage).” Nobody
in this 1950s-era family really wants to go to the grandpar
ents’ apartment, and they’re stuck nursing resentments
and nausea in the confines of the stale-smelling car. The
dysfunction is both large and small, and many of us can
recognize our own childhood journeys in the way
the kids annoy each other in the backseat.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel
also has a bigger picture in mind, aiming to cre
ate a “floating world” through conventions of
Japanese drama (and through “one Westerner’s
misunderstanding of Bunraku,” she notes,
adding, “The misunderstanding is key”) in her
attempt to answer Thornton Wilder’s Our Town,
which portrays little lives in a little town as rep
resentations of the human experience.
This is not a warm, lighthearted family com
edy, in other words. Puppets help tell the story
of the younger versions of the children (Melanie
Sheahan, Brian Chenard and Taylor Bahin),
who certainly aren’t learning how to have posi
tive adult relationships from their parents (Ami
Sallee and Mark McManus). This dreamlike play,
directed by T. Anthony Marotta, also utilizes
masks, sounds, media and movement in inno
vative, fascinating ways. With solid direction,
experienced actors and a dedicated production
team, it should be a unique theater experience to suit the
post-holiday mood.
The Long Christmas Ride Home is presented by University
Theatre at Seney-Stovall Chapel Tuesday, Jan. 31-Sunday,
Feb. 5 at 8 p.m., with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Feb.
5. Tickets are $12, $7 for students and available at 706-
542-4400 or drama.uga.edu.
Stage Kiss Have you ever wondered about what happens
between actors when their characters kiss on stage, over
and over again? These actors (Bryn Adamson and Matt
Hardy) are portraying actors who are in a sentimental play
about former lovers reuniting. The actors themselves (not
the actors playing the actors) are also former lovers who
reconnect through their work in the play within the play.
If you were the director (Patrick Najjar) of that play (not
this one, which is directed by G. Derek Adams), wouldn’t
you be nervous? And what about the actress’ husband (Skip
Hulett)? Can fake stage kisses make the actors feel young
again? Can they tell the difference between real and staged
romance after kissing nine times a night, eight shows a
week for four weeks (288 times total)?
It’s a story of theater life and quirky love by a contem
porary playwright so noteworthy she’s won awards with
the words “distinguished” and “genius” in them. It features
a favorite Town & Gown director with a well-established
sense of humor and a cast that includes some of the
Players’ best. Whether you love theater from the inside,
from the outside, from both or just love an oddball roman
tic story, it promises to be a fun night out.
Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl is presented by Town Ik Gown
Players at the Athens Community Theatre Friday, Feb. 3
and Saturday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m.; Thursday, Feb. 9-Saturday,
Feb. 11 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, Feb. 5 and 12 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $8-$15 and available at townandgownplayers.
org or 706-208-8696.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Some people find
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) depress
ing, boring or both. Playwright Christopher Durang and
director Kristin Kundert used to feel that way, until learn
ing to appreciate the funny in plays like Three Sisters and
Unde Vanya. After coming to enjoy Chekhov, Kundert dis
covered the works of Durang and decided he was one of the
funniest playwrights she’d ever read. She and Durang both
had grown to admire Chekhov, learning to appreciate his
characters who yearn for meaning in a world that has none,
wanting change but fearing it at the same time and feeling
hopeless about the future.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike features charac
ters straight out of Chekhov but set in the present day.
Middle-aged Vanya (Larry Cox Jr.) and his adoptive sister
Sonia (Katie Butcher) exist in dull seclusion while their
egotistical sister Masha (Anna Pieri) lives the fabulous life
of a Hollywood star. Masha’s star power is dimming with
age, however, and she returns home with her
hot, young boy toy Spike (J.D. Hyers), who has
Hollywood dreams of his own. Unsurprisingly,
the siblings very quickly start to drive each other
crazy.
Having a perky maid named Cassandra
(Lauren King) who is prone to hilarious doom-
and-gloom prophecy, plus an aspiring—and sig
nificantly younger—actress named Nina (Rebeca
Ispas), around only increases the melodrama.
While the play is a farce, it questions our discon
nected digital age and lets the characters grieve
the inevitable ravages of time. But we might as
well laugh in the face of our fears and let the love
of family—even if those family members are
annoying—add a dash of hope for humanity.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by
Christopher Durang is presented by University
Theatre in the Cellar Theatre Thursday. Feb.
16-Saturday, Feb. 18 and Tuesday, Feb. 21-Sat-
urday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m., with a 2:30 p.m. mati
nee on Sunday, Feb. 26. Tickets are $15, $12 for
students and available at 706-542-4400 or drama.uga.edu.
Sunshine Town The Thalian Blackfriars are doing a work
shop production of a new play written by one of their own,
Abraham Johnson, and directed by Jessica Browder, who
did an amazing job with their production of Edipsed this
past fall. Sunshine Town is about a perfect family on a per
fect day that slowly cracks up to an absurd level by the end
of the play. It’s a very dark play that includes “debatably
dead bodies, possessed babies, bisexually curious teenagers,
hyper-misogyny and banana bread muffins.” The exact date
and place are TBA, but it’ll be in early February, so follow
them on social media or visit ugathalian.wix.com/blackfri-
ars to stay tuned. ©
(L-R) Ami Sallee, Brian Chenard, Melanie Sheahan, Taylor Bahin and Mark McManus star in The Long
Christmas Ride Home.
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