GF Theatre Season Continues With Comedy and Drama

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

The busy season continues for local live theatre productions, with Grand Forks Central’s fall show playing two weeks ago, the Fire Hall theatre opening a show last weekend that continues this weekend and next, and the UND Theatre Department opening a new show next Tuesday.

Under the direction of Todd Aleshire, Central High School put on “The Plot, Like Gravy, Thickens,” a murder-mystery comedy by Billy St. John, October 29-31. A piece of satiric meta-fiction, its central character (amusingly played by Ryan King) is actually three characters rolled into one.

King walks onstage to interrupt an opening scene of an argument and then explains to the audience that he’s the playwright and that they’ll see this scene later in the play. He introduces each character to the audience, notes that he will personally be playing the role of Edward Worthington III, the man who gets murdered, then lets the play begin from the point numerous guests begin to arrive at a large manor house. Periodically, he again halts the production to explain something to the audience, and after the murder, he returns in the second act playing the detective investigating the murder.

Central’s production had a good ensemble cast of fourteen, with Jacy Thibert obviously relishing her part as the scheming second wife and Gabe Figueroa solid as her equally-scheming brother. Daniella Lima was very entertaining as the younger and hoping-to-be third wife, and Mike McGurran had some fun moments as Hollister the butler. Each character was given clever bits that cast members gleefully milked to the delight of the audience, and in true murder-mystery tradition, the ending had one twist after another before the actual culprit was revealed.

Last Thursday, was the regional premiere of a new comedy-drama by Canadian playwright Paddy Gillard-Bentley, and only the second time the play has been staged in the United States. “Shaking the Dew From the Lilies” continues at 7:30 pm nightly Thursday through Saturday through November 20.

Kathy Coudle-King directed this intimate look at five very different women accidentally locked in a mall restroom overnight. With a frankness that ranges from bawdy to brutal, the play skillfully blends broad situation comedy with thought-provoking drama. As the women’s unexpected evening together progresses, the proceedings reveal an often-poignant depth to characters that first appear to each other and to the audience as simple stereotypes.

This is truly an ensemble cast, with all the characters working together, banding into smaller groups, realigning their allegiances, bonding, and with each at some point taking turns in the limelight to deliver some sort of personal monologue. The characters start out comically venting their frustrations about whatever comes to mind (from their stranded situation to lack of toilet paper to various romantic relationships). But conversation gradually gets more personal and more intense, leading to a nicely-developed dramatic arc with a conclusion that is satisfying, yet slightly open-ended.

All five actresses do fine jobs, and each gets the chance to shine in her character’s showpiece monologue. The most powerful scene in the play, due to both the writing and Sara Anderson’s moving performance, is when prissy “rich-bitch” Cynthia, whom the other four teasingly tolerate at first, loosens up enough after a half a bottle of gin to explain her relationship with her mother.

The sarcastic and sexually promiscuous Tami and Aja, played aggressively and entertainingly by Nicole Quam and Caitlin Lien, also get powerful scenes that account for some of their quirky personal hang-ups. Aja’s best-friend Susan, played with a layered sensitivity by Skye Mauch, likewise has moments that reveal significant backstory in both their lives. The lighter-hearted, somewhat older, and more laid-back Nicole acts as something of a catalyst and a bonding element in the group, well-handled by community theatre veteran Adonica Schultz Aune. She, too, has secrets that come out during the course of their long night together.

With its strong dose of bathroom humor and sexual content, “Shaking the Dew From the Lilies” is not a show for everyone, but the Fire Hall production is well-worth seeing for mature theatre-goers. It’s running at 7:30 nightly Thursdays through Saturdays at the Fire Hall Theatre in downtown Grand Forks through November 20.

Opening next Tuesday and running in UND’s basement “Lab Theatre” at 7:30 nightly through November 20 is “Scarcity,” directed by graduate student Ben Klipfel. Lucy Thurber’s drama focuses on parents trapped in poverty and their two high-IQ children who seek to escape the conditions of their upbringing. When sixteen-year-old Billy’s unusually attentive teacher from the “upper crust” offers him an opportunity to change schools and move out of town, the ensuing conflict reveals his parents’ own lost dreams.

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If You Go

What: Shaking the Dew From the Lilies
Where: Fire Hall Theatre, Grand Forks
When: Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm, through Nov 20
Info: 701.746.0847

What: Scarcity
Where: Burtness Lab Theatre, UND
When: Nov 16-20, 7:30pm
Info: 701.777.2587