Quite the vixen, the doe-eyed Crystal Rincon plays Thelma who is recently crowned Miss Farndale, or something of the sort, and is making a special appearance onstage for the Townswomen's Guild. Rincon has several great deer-in-the-headlight moments and also has a niche for physical comedy. The difference between Rincon and Spires is that Rincon's funniest moments are subtle and quiet, and if you're looking, are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Her butler bell imitation is by far the wittiest.
Jennifer Fortson plays Audrey, a character with many faces and always the proper, upright "pip, pip, cheerio" attitude. Fortson takes a few scenes to shake off the nerves but once going, she's a ray of light onstage. Even though she resigns to play the elder characters within the show, Fortson is youthful, vibrant and has an infectious laugh that makes her performance a pleasure to watch.
As Felicity, who portrays Pawn the Butler, Sarah Ruffin does a decent job as the stiff-lipped, zombie-like hired hand. Her voice as Pawn grates on me a bit, but the role is an odd one to begin with so I prefer the moments when Ruffin breaks away and becomes her lady character Felicity. Unfortunately it's not often. Her transition from Felicity to Pawn is a complete 180 so from what I could tell, Felicity is a little ditsy which makes her transition back into Pawn uncanny and comical.
The lone male in the cast of five is Alfredo Martinez as Gordon who I believe is the former assistant stage manager filling in for a missing actor – the character, not Martinez. Martinez holds his own among the dramatically-inclined group of women, and matches their energy onstage. His faux-mishaps aren't always as believable as the rest. He is more like the guy who shows up to his own surprise birthday party he knows about and has to act surprised.
The lighting and sound effects play to the strengths of the performance, giving the actors plenty to work with and causing copious amounts of good-humored confusion for the audience. I secretly wonder if the technicians change the effects for each show just to keep the actors on their toes. Otherwise, if they're keeping with the same set every night, the instinctive reactions from the cast come across genuine and completely candid.
If you've heard of Farndale before, Pantagleize produced the Dramatic Society's version of A Christmas Carol in the past year. Playwrights David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr. have at least seven or eight additional existing scripts that feature the ladies of Farndale, the Murder Mystery being one of the more widely-known.
Since I've now been schooled in the ways and talents of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society, I recommend a visit to Pantagleize Theatre Company to join in on the fun, the fundraising, and this farce of a murder mystery.
没有评论:
发表评论