While the three in the bar are initially wary of the travelers based on the reputation of their community, they soon become excited about the talent before them and devise a plan to make money off the fiddler. The couple agrees to their money-making scheme, and the woman (Lynda Marnoni) even promises to try using her healing arts to cure one bar dweller of his terrible stuttering. Marnoni delivered the best performance, although she was the only one who seemed to struggle a bit with the Irish accent. Each line was crafted finely, and her physical portrayal of the old healer was spot on. Of course, the travelers get the last laugh, in the end, stealing the bartender’s money as well as his car before the men can take advantage of them. The stutter does get cured though, or rather, transferred, making the end of this play the best writing of the evening.
Director R.M. Lawrence managed to move the actors around quite a bit despite a small bar set, but it all felt natural. There was even dancing to the fiddle music and some sleight of hand, which you would have missed if you weren’t paying attention. I was surprised with how well the set was dressed for a short show, and props master Austin Sills did a great job on making the scene believable.
The next show was Werner’s The Christmas Tassel Bell. This play was shorter and with much less of a set. Some of this set involved merely covering up the bar from the previous show, which would have been fine except that the cover kept slipping off during the show. Other than that distraction, the set featured a Christmas tree and a bed, the other “rooms” in the house left to the imagination. The show was simple enough- a father is telling his son a story about a fictional character that they’ve created together. In the telling of this story, the father explains to his son that refugees are coming to live with them. It’s a very topical subject, but I feel that it could have been handled a bit better.
Lamar Fields played the father, and also some of the characters in the story they are acting out. He was terrific to watch, and his manner towards his son (Matthew Southers Jr.) shows that Fields is experienced around children. The interaction between Fields and Southers is precisely what you’d want to see in a show about a father and son making up stories together. They played off each other exceptionally well. In the background of the play were two characters dressed in dragon onesies who represented mythical figures in the story that was being told, and, as it turned out, the refugees. Rachel Pfenningwerth and Christine Marie played these fictional but not-so-fictional characters, and they did well despite the confusing blocking that seemed to be given to them.
R.M. Lawrence also directed this one, and I have to assume he was trying to do something a little fantastical with it given the subject matter. I was often confused about where characters were supposed to be, and the miming of so many of their actions just blurred a lot of the scenes. A lot of the jokes written into this one were pretty cheesy, but being that it was a story told to a child, that’s forgivable. This play was cute and festive, but it was one-dimensional despite it trying to be otherwise.
Overall, it was an enjoyable evening of theater, but I much preferred The Stuttering Pig to The Christmas Tassel Bell. Not every show can please everybody!
Ringa is a native Pittsburgher who has a Creative Writing degree from Carlow University. She’s been published multiple times online and in print, and has had several of her theatrical works produced locally. In the theatre world, she’s worked with many Pittsburgh companies in every position from director to actor to sound designer, but her favorite role is stage manager. When she’s not writing or performing, Ringa is the co-owner of a small business making handmade pop culture items and she runs her own baking and cake decorating business out of her home. In her rare free time, Ringa is usually travelling or watching horror movies at home with her cats.
Categories: Archived Reviews