[NEohioPAL]Berko reviews: GREATER TUNA (BECK CENTER)

[Roy Berko]

‘GREATER TUNA’ an enjoyable escape at Beck

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


Tuna, Texas is the third smallest city in Texas. 
Well, if there was such a place as Tuna, Texas, it
would be the third smallest city.  Tuna is the
mythical setting for the trilogy of comedic plays
written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard. 
Their first script was ‘Greater Tuna,’ which is now on
stage at Beck Center.

The plays examine the redneck, red-state mentality of
people who are members of the clan, see UFOs, sell
used assault weapons, set up a “limited” Spanish
language program which consists of five phrases,
regularly destroy rock-and-roll records, and try and
remove books from the library.  The books and the
reasons? ‘ROOTS’ only tells one side of the slave
story; ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’ encourages teen-age sex; and
‘HUCK FINN’ tells of a relationship between a
delinquent white youth and a black man.

Though it was written a quarter-century ago, most of
the humor is still topical. 

There are 20 characters in the script.  Wow, a huge
cast!  Actually, not so.  All twenty characters are
played by 2 men!  How do they do it?  They change
their vocalizations, toss wigs on and off, become
quick change artists as the costumes change
constantly.  Kudos to Jinniver Sparano, the costume
designer and dresser, who has recently become the
queen of stripping and reclothing actors.   (She
recently carried out the same task for the cast of
‘M4M’ at Cleveland Public Theatre.) 

Who are the characters?  "Hanging Judge" Buckner was
found dead of a stroke while he was wearing a Dale
Evans one-piece swimsuit.  R.R. Snavely, aided by a
bottle of Mogen-David, saw a UFO that looked like ``a
giant hovering chimichanga without the guacamole." 
Elderly Pearl Burras loves nothing better than to slip
a strychnine pill into a biscuit, wrap it in a dough
ball and feed it to dogs.  And the loonies are
commented upon by Thurston and Arles who run the local
radio station.

Nicholas Koesters (Arles)portrays an array of
characters including the gun-selling Didi, the over
sympathetic director of the Humane Society, both a
brother and his sister, and the leader of the “Smut
Snatchers.”  He does all of them well.  

Kevin Joseph Kelly (Thurston) is delightful as the dog
Yippy, an old lady, a misguided mother and the
sheriff.  The eulogy he delivers as Reverend Spikes at
Judge Brucker’s funeral, is hilarious. Though his
characterizations are not quite as keyed as Koesters’
portrayals, Kelly is excellent.

Sparano’s costumes are perfectly tacky.  A higher
compliment could not be given.  Richard Ingraham’s
sound design enforces and bridges the various
segments.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Need an escape from holiday stress
and the same-old, same-old holiday entertainment? 
Well, hook up the sleigh, or the trusty SUV and get
out to Beck Center in Lakewood for an hour-and-a-half
of fun.

‘GREATER TUNA’runs through December 17 at The Beck
Center for the Arts in Lakewood.  For ticket
information call 216-521-2540.


Roy Berko's theatre blog, which includes his reviews of plays and dance programs from 2003 through 2006, can be found at http://royberkinfo.blogspot.com  
      Information regarding his consulting and publications and older theatre and dance reviews can be found at www.royberko.info.  
      Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


 
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