BROOKINGS – Starting Thursday and running through Sunday, a mixed crew of Brookings Community Theatre regulars, one newcomer to the BCT boards and a pair of newcomers to directing bring a well-known two-act comedy – “The Nerd” – to the Fishback Studio Theatre in the SDSU Performing Arts Center.
Making their debuts behind the curtain are director Jeff Davis and assistant director Carol Doolittle. But both bring BCT acting experience with them: Davis in “Of Mice and Men” and “12 Angry Jurors”; Doolittle with roles in “Red Velvet Cake War,” “Dearly Beloved” and “Rex’s Exes.”
“I’d thought about directing but never found or took the opportunity,” Davis said. “I knew what went into it, all the coordination of things that needed to be done.”
“I was surprised to be asked to be assistant director,” Doolittle said. “I was very flattered, because it was something I had never considered doing before.”
She added, “It’s kind of a first time for us as a team. It’s working out for us very well.” She’s also working as the play’s costumer.
Finally, she carved several chickens out of styrofoam; they look nicely cooked and ready to eat when they are served to some of the cast during an on-stage dining scene.
Davis called the play “an audience appeal comedy, with those moments of misunderstanding found funny forever, since comedy has been done. It also has some conflicts in relationships.”
Ted Kulm, a newcomer to BCT but active in community theater in Flandreau, plays Rick Steadman, who is “The Nerd” and a literal lifesaver, but a totally boring person with no social graces. He’s key to a plot that involves his stay – overstay – after his welcome to the home of a fellow veteran whose life he saved in Vietnam, but a man he has never met face-to-face.
Jason Soren, a face familiar to BCT productions, plays Willum Cubbert, an up-and-coming architect, whose life was saved by Steadman when he was seriously wounded in Vietnam. He gladly welcomes Rick into his home and life. But Rick is one of those guests who, like a visiting relative, doesn’t realize that a welcome to stay comes with an expiration date. It’s not written but is understood by anyone with at least a basic understanding of social graces and diplomacy.
Another newcomer to the BCT boards is Louise Snodgrass, who plays Tansy McGinnis, billed as “a smart, attractive woman with a mutual attraction to Willum.” But that attraction won’t get in the way of her being offered her dream job: a television weather forecaster in Washington, D.C. For McGinnis it’s her first time onstage since leaving high school.
Other members of the seven-member cast include: Keith Campbell as Axel Hammond, Willum’s best friend; Patrick Dunham as Warnock Waldgrave, a client of Cubbert’s; Emily Kehrwald as Clelia Waldgrave, Warnock’s high-strung wife; and Jim Radloff as Thor Waldgrave, the Waldgraves’ somewhat goofy son.
“This is a hilarious show. We laughed, laughed and laughed the first time we read the script. It was just really funny,” Doolittle said.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee in the Fishback Studio Theatre in the SDSU Performing Arts Center.
Tickets are $12 for seniors and students and $15 for adults and available at Brookings Book Company, The Optical Shop and at the door one hour before the show. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.brookingscommunitytheatre.org.
Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.
