As Charles Morey lets out of its barn the backstage secrets of an old summer stock theater, the more you've seen like it, the more you know or have experienced of theater itself, the more you'll like his tribute to both. Your enjoyment will be enhanced by familiarity with Hamlet, Charley's Aunt, and Dracula -- the three plays being rotated here by The Players. Correction: Dracula has been newly adapted by artistic director Gordon into "Dracul the Impaler" for budgetary reasons. The same dictate rules just about all activities at the theater, including Gordon constantly having to placate his major donor. No matter how humiliating, he'll sing her request for "Do, Re, Mi" over the phone. No matter how silly, he'll endure Susanna (Norah Sweeney, exuding haughtiness), the artsy director-from-nowhere recommended by Madame Donor. When he can be, Gordon is as thoroughly professional as is his portrayer, Anderson Matthews.
Love of theater and those who make it happen informs Gordon's every choice. Yet though it's not easy to endure heat, mosquitoes, noisy folding chairs, and few technical facilities, his colleagues hold the greatest challenges. Some are old pros who've seen better days. Oldest is Richfield (outstanding David S. Howard), who not only has trouble remembering lines but is also old enough to recall earlier versions of the vampire saga with differently named characters and plot turns.
Daisy, however, can be counted on to give her all (as does Sharon Spelman, touchingly). So what if she's an overaged Ophelia? In that respect, doesn't she match -- in his one indulgence of a lifetime -- Gordon's Hamlet? And speaking of matches, how nervewracking must it be to work with stage manager and former love Sarah (Carolyn Michel, sensible amid chaos)! Is she in danger of once again drinking too much?
Accustomed to the rigors but protesting them vigorously are pencil-rationing business manager Craig (John Long, finely flappable) and jack-of-all tech matters Henry (likeable Ross Boehringer). As the returning star Tyler, David Breitbarth portends reliability in onstage matters. Offstage, though, this experienced lothario bears watching. When he takes up with newcomer Mary (lively Natasha Staley), their many get-togethers may be for more than exploring the motives of their characters. They're good under "bubbles" and goofy under orders from Susanna, who insists on improvising based on animal behavior.
Among the newcomers, the most impressive are talented Jack (beguilling Britt Whittle), who considers leaving acting for law school, and sour Vernon (laudable Douglas Jones). No longer a star player, he stays in the game and, before summer is over, makes a few scores.
The younger actors fittingly play young actors interacting among themselves more than acting in the plays. In fact, Bryan Crossan's dizzily distracted Braun gets so involved offstage that he appears in one play as a character from another.
High point in the onstage performances occurs when everything that could go wrong in The Players' version of the vampire play does. Samples: Tyler's Dracul gets his cape stuck in the door he carries -- why is another story -- to the castle front. Mary (a.k.a. Mina, a.k.a. Lucy) barely escapes asphyxiation from the fog rolling into her bedroom. Howard's puzzled Richfield can neither remember nor ad lib the crucial info about how to kill Dracul. In his casket, the latter almost gets dispatched with a crowbar when the stake is left offstage. (I actually guffawed at everyone's helpless dismay in that sequence! )
Though the poignant parts in the real lives of the players come off less well than the comic bits, there's still a compelling sense of their coming together like a family. We feel the intense passion some invest in maintaining the estate. We leave feeling like relatives who will surely want to return for a reunion. I, for one, wouldn't mind another offering so many laughs.
