Prank
and Circumstance
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| Dede Klein and Benjamin Gregg |
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| April Deming (l), Dede Klein |
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| (l. to r.) Dede Klein, April Deming, Benjamin Gregg, Micah Harvey |
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| Lames Alexander Rankin (l.), Dede Klein |
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| (l. to r.) Micah Harvey, Shani Ferry, Dede Klein |
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| Dede Klein, Micah Harvey |
By
Tom Wachunas
Photos
by Jeremy Aronhalt
The series of
four plays comprising the 2019/20 season from itinerant Seat of the Pants
Productions are offered under the theme of ‘The Kindness of Strangers,’
described as “…posing questions and inspiring dialogue about how we engage with
the foreigner, alien, or person who is different in our midst.” There’s something curiously appropriate, even poetic, about landing the first play of the series
in a venue as theatrically nontraditional as Canton’s Habitat for Humanity of
East Central Ohio.
Directed by
Craig Joseph, Ripcord is a wickedly
delicious comedy by David Lindsay-Abaire that centers on two elderly widows who
turn their time in an otherwise pleasant senior living facility into a mutually
adversarial habitat. Talk about odd couples. From the start, chronically cranky
Abby (Dede Klein) complains about everything.
She can’t stand her bubbly, newly-arrived roommate, Marilyn (April Deming).
Abby pleads with a senior center staffer, Scotty (Benjamin Gregg), to assign
Marilyn to another room, but to no avail. So when Marilyn - who says she never
gets angry about anything – makes a bet, Abby - who says that nothing scares
her - jumps at the chance.
The wager? If
Abby can first succeed in making Marilyn angry, Marilyn moves out. But if
Marilyn can first frighten Abby, Marilyn can have the bed she wants - the one closest
to the window with a beautiful view of the park outside.
Pull the
ripcord. A madcap game of oneupsmanship
ensues, escalating into ever more mischievous practical jokes, and thrusting
both women into a scenario of painful revelations about their respective pasts.
The theatrical
acumen of Craig Joseph’s entire cast is marvelous. As Abby, Dede Klein presents a visceral rendering of feral grumpiness,
colored by a tired cynicism that at times feels, frightfully enough,
misanthropic. Similarly startling in her authenticity, April Deming paints a
spot-on portrait of Marilyn’s seemingly unflappable kindness and garrulous
optimism. It’s fascinating to watch these hopelessly conflicting temperaments
subtly morph from a slapstick clash of wills into a pathos which perhaps
neither character could have anticipated at the beginning of their prank war.
The supporting cast performs with equally
impressive aplomb. Benjamin Gregg is
downright endearing as the dutiful resident aide Scotty – patient, infectiously
funny, but increasingly exasperated by the womens’ ceaseless shananigans. He’s
sure they need to get out more. So at one point, he invites them to visit the
haunted house attraction where he’s been hired as an actor. There, he plays a
prisoner bellowing his melodramatic pleas for mercy and tearful goodbyes as
he’s repeatedly executed in the electric chair. Amidst all of this scene’s
belly laughs, there’s a fleetingly heartrending, indeed symbolic moment,
wherein Abby stands away from the crowd, not so much scared as haunted by
sadness, gazing down at a baby doll that’s been shoved into her arms by a
desperate woman (Shani Ferry) pleading
for someone to rescue her child.
Meanwhile
there are first-rate performances by Shani Ferry as Colleen, and Micah Harvey
as Derek, Marilyn’s daughter and son-in-law. Marilyn has enlisted them as
co-conspirators in her elaborate plots to scare Abby. In one particularly
ingenious scene, we see all of them tethered together for a skydiving adventure
led by a stoned-out instructor played by James Alexander Rankin, who later
plays Abby’s estranged son, Benjamin, with riveting poignance. In another scene of
bizarre, gut-splitting hilarity, Micah Harvey, disguised as a ridiculous rabbit
with fiery eyes and gold fangs, attempts to rob Abby at gunpoint as she sits
reading on the park bench. She’s perturbed, sure, but definitely not scared. Yet.
Some darker
truths about these embattled women are further revealed. But some truths can be
freeing. In the end there’s a brief, gentle smile of truce as they sit near
that prized window overlooking the park. This wildly entertaining freefall has
placed them, and us, in a path of peace.
Ripcord, at Habitat for Humanity East
Central Ohio, 1400 Raff Road Southwest, #Ste A, in Canton, Ohio / Performances
on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15 & 16 at 8 p.m., Sunday Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.
Starring: Dede Klein, April Deming, Benjamin Gregg,
Shani Ferry, Micah Harvey, and James Rankin. Directed by Craig Joseph;
assistant directed by Kyle Huff, and stage managed by Allison Harvey. Set
design and construction by Kevin Anderson; Scenic artist - Tim Eakin; costumes
by McCarty & Morgan Custom Costumes; lighting by Ayron Lord; props by Lisa
Wiley; sound engineer - Megan Slabach; sound design and original music by John
Gromada.
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