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Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Review: VWCT production funny, poignant

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten are at their very best when they combine their skill at writing laugh-out-loud comedies with the ability to portray strong women characters in a sympathetic light.

Dot (Terry Plas), Randa (Nicolle Merkel), and Marlafaye (Amy McConn) meet for the first time after a yoga class in VWCT’s The Savannah Sipping Society. photos by Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent

That’s exactly what Van Wert Civic Theatre-goers can enjoy with VWCT’s latest production: The Savannah Sipping Society. The play is set (where else?) in Savannah, Georgia, where four women of disparate backgrounds first connect on a very casual basis, but parlay the run-in into a strong, although not always cordial, friendship.

Because there are basically just four characters in the play, the pressure is on the actors who portray them to do justice to the roles. Fortunately, VWCT found just the right four women to portray these unique women.

Three of the women connect after a yoga class they unwisely decided to take. Marlafaye (Amy McConn), a boisterous nurse who moves to Savannah from Texas; Randa (Nicolle Merkel), an uptight, anal — and fired — architect; and quiet widow Dot (Terry Plas), decide to have a drink to soothe their tired and aching muscles. The awkward meeting, which includes a hilarious scene where the women use Marlafaye’s therapy doll to take out their frustrations with the men no longer in their lives, goes well enough that they, although somewhat reluctant, decide to meet again on Randa’s veranda.

Unbeknownst to Randa, though, a woman with whom she had a spat in a local grocery, Jinx (Jan Miller), a bubbly beauty consultant who plans to use her experience chasing men all around the country to become a life coach for others, was also invited to the soiree.

Although the get-together is a little awkward at first — especially between Randa and Jinx — a little alcohol loosens the quartet up and they all eventually find a way to connect, and, as Marlafaye says, resign themselves to “living single and drinking doubles”. 

The three other women are also talked into participating in several life challenges by Jinx, with each challenge coming with interesting — and hilarious — side effects.

Along the way, the women share lots of laughs, more than a few tears, and their problems: Randa’s worries that she can’t maintain her upscale lifestyle; Marlafaye’s anger at her ex-husband Waylon, who cheated on her with a 23-year-old; Dot’s frustration with the fact her husband died before they could enjoy the retirement they had planned; and Jinx’s sadness for her sister, who is in the final stages of dementia.

A role-play experiment set up by Jinx (Jan Miller, background) with Randa (in hat and “paunch”) portraying Marlafaye’s ex, Waylon, doesn’t go all that well.

Although it would have been easy for the characters to become caricatures – something that would have happened in less able hands — all four actors their imbued their characters with real human feelings and provided fully-realized portraits of women working hard to heal the hurts they received from life. 

In addition to the four leads, Stephanie Wagner also has a funny cameo as Vanda’s nasty grandmother, Cordelia Covington, who gets a real surprise at the birthday party Vanda throws for her.

The Savannah Sipping Society is not only Jones-Hope-Wooten at their best, but also local theatre at its finest. It’s a production VWCT theatre-goers won’t want to miss, but be prepared to laugh a lot — and likely shed a tear or two. 

The production continues through this weekend and the weekend of January 30, 31, and February 1-2. Evening performances start at 8 p.m., while Sunday afternoon matinees begin at 2. Tickets are $16 apiece and must be paid for at the time of the reservation. Tickets can be purchased online at http://vwct.org or at the VWCT box office at 419.238.9689 from 2-6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

POSTED: 01/24/20 at 1:55 am. FILED UNDER: News