Julian Wiles' Fruitcakes, staged by Dirk Jasperse, is currently on the boards at Patio Theater in Escondido. The show has been a favorite throughout the nation for a few years.
Fruitcakes takes place in a small town in the south, not too far from Atlanta or Columbia. In the center of town is Mack's general store. His specialty is whirligigs and, annually, Christmas trees. Sisters Sally and Vera make hundreds of fruitcakes generously laced with good ole JD (Jack Daniels, to you northerners). Beebo Dantzler turns his house into a light show every Christmas season. Add to this Tutti Fruitti, a lost cat, Buster, a Christmas hog replete with a red nose and a chicken pox epidemic.
Enter Jamie, a runaway kid, who thinks that the town is nuttier than a fruitcake. As with many holiday fares, Fruitcakes deals with alienation, understanding, and inevitable reconciliation. It will warm your heart.
Fruitcakes has a cast of 18, in which half range from six to their early teens. Playwright Wiles judiciously gives the kids a limited number of lines. That is until he comes to co-lead Jamie (Matthew Read). Remember that name, Matthew Read; you are going to be seeing a lot of this young man. Some children can memorize lines, a few can get into character, and a very few can understand the emotions of their character. Young spike-haired Master Read is convincing from the moment he walks onstage until his last line. (It helps that Wiles wrote a fully rounded character that is insightful and moves the plot.)
Steve Rich, as Mack Morgan the storekeeper, plays opposite Read nicely. Fruitcake allows a very rebellious Jamie to be the observer and Mack to be his guide. The results in a delightful symbiotic relationship.
Sisters Miss Sara (Peggy Schneider) and Miss Alice (Caro Louise) are a delight in contrasts as well as comic relief. Sara is a crotchety hag type, while Alice is outgoing and sparkling with enthusiasm. Director Jasperse stages their home with two entrances, one for each, with an implied dividing line down the middle of the kitchen.
Patrick McKim, as Beebo Dantzler, besides being the father of a substantial brood, is also the law of the town as well as the man with the lights. Sound designer David Farlow gives us "Thus Spake Zarathustra" for Beebo's lighting of the Christmas lights. Lighting gurus Kat Perhach and George Daye time the lighting to the music for an inspired moment.
Judy Conlon's set gives us not only Mack's store front, but Beebo's house front and the sisters Sara and Alice's kitchen. Ann Savage's costumes work well. John Aviles is definitely busy in the makeup department, as are Vesta Gleissner and Liz Rich doing props.
Fruitcakes has that warm and fuzzy Christmas season feeling. Enjoy.
