Cotton
candy
by
Michael Dresdner
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| L to R: Richmond, O'Hare, Ferguson All photos by Dennis K Photography |
Last
night, Paul Elliott’s comedy Exit Laughing, superbly directed by Rick Hornor,
opened at Tacoma Little Theatre to a packed house simply roaring with laughter
from beginning to end.
Densely
packed into this brisk, airy comedy are enough zingers and one-liners to fill at
least three episodes of your favorite TV sitcom to bursting. If you are looking
for pure, rib-tickling diversion, go out and buy tickets now. This show will
sell out.
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| L to R: Richmond, O'Hare, Ferguson |
The
plot, which exists mostly as a platter on which to serve up classic humor,
involves three women who’ve played cards together for years and, somewhat in
absentia, their fourth who has just died. I say “somewhat” because her urn of
ashes joins them for one last hurrah.
Connie
(Carol Richmond) is the sensible, somewhat repressed mother of a 22 year old
daughter, and the host of tonight’s gathering. Leona (Sharry O’Hare) is a
classic, snarky, quick-witted and sharped tongued inebriate who loves her
friends, though possibly not as much as her booze.
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| L to R: O'Hare, Richmond |
Then
there’s Millie (Shelleigh-Mairi Ferguson), the quintessential clueless ditz who
brings along the dead Mary’s ashes, which she has stolen from the funeral home.
Why? Because Mary’s white trash relatives, whom we never see, are violating
what this trio knows were her disposition wishes.
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| L to R: Parobek, Ferguson |
Rounding
out the cast of archetypes are Connie’s daughter Rachel Ann (Margret Parobek)
beautifully filling the role of a volatile young woman with all the explosive
passion and fickle heart of a stereotypical teen, and her missing date, who
stood her up, showing up instead in the guise of ‘Officer Grayson’ (John Naden),
a handsome young man working as a stripper but hiding a challenged past and the
requisite heart of gold.
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| Naden |
The
small cast of five were all excellent, but far and away the most entertaining is
the pairing of O’Hare and Ferguson. These
two, both outstanding actors separately, are pure comic gold together, and
worth the price of admission all by themselves. They play off one another alternately
setting each other up to show off their flawless punch line deliveries. Damn, they’re
good.
All
this plays out in one room of Carol’s house on a perfect set (by Blake York) right
out of Golden Girls, only slightly more northern, and festooned with appropriately
awful wall art (set dresser and props man Jeffery Weaver). Even Mary’s urn of
ashes is a character in itself, a paradigm of the abhorrently tasteless.
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| Ferguson, with an urn full of Mary's ashes |
The
otherwise spot-on costumes (by Michele Graves) were all overshadowed by those
of stripper Grayson (you’ll see what I mean). Predictably solid were the sound
design by York and Chris Serface, and lighting by Niclas Olson. Oh, and let’s
give a nod to stage manager Nena Curley and (temporarily absent but just as
vital) assistant Noelle Shai Edlin for keeping it all running smoothly.
Bottom
line: I’m willing to bet that you will find this silly, fluffy romp funny, thoroughly
enjoyable, and over too soon.
Exit Laughing
April 21 to May 7, 2017
Tacoma Little Theatre
https://www.tacomalittletheatre.com/
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