Man in the Attic by Arlene Hutton is the first of two comedies directed by Cory Boras, each involving family conflicts. Andrea Downer aptly conveys the nearly hysterical fear of a Wife who wants her not very brave Husband (Rodd Dyer, guarded) to do something about a Man she’s found living in their basement. Wife’s Sister, Liz Pascoe, fills in bravely with fine sneering at Husband. (Liz just took over the part last minute from an ailing actress originally cast!) The Man apparently enjoyed reading old magazines while using up food and drink in Husband’s emergency survival set-up. But will he (dominating Michael DeMocko) survive being ferreted out of the basement or is plumbing more of a problem than the owners? Boras directs for sustained interest, but author Hutton’s ending seems to just fade out. For Robert Brophy’s Galoshes, director Cory Boyas gets Michael DeMocko to kind of defy his nagging, overprotective, over-dogmatic Mom (Betty Robinson, holier than her church and very old-fashioned). He is keen on dating his cousin Pam (seductive and slick in tight-fitting black leather) though both are divorced and she may not really be related. But will Mom still make him wear galoshes so he’ll be good, at least physically? Louise Stinespring, assisted by husband John, directs George Sapio’s Putt-Putt, in which promoter Jeff (Ross Boehringer, enthusiastic) proposes a great plan for a two-part mini golf course with holes based on the Biblical Old and New Testaments. Imagine how Mark Shoemaker’s bothered Brian, a national putt-putt champ, feels about stroking a putt for Jesus! Sides are taken by Diana Shoemaker’s romantic Debra and John Durkin’s executive type Dexter. Love ends all arguments comically agreeably. Mark My Worms by Cary Pepper, directed by David Nields, is the highlight of Starlite’s program of “laughable struggles.” Valen McDaniel’s authoritative John, the director in the play, is set on staging an early, up to now lost two-person play by LaSalle Montclair, a late highly critically praised absurdist. Having signed on as the male star, Ross Boehringer (one of Sarasota’s most reliable fine actors) as Mason enthusiastically begins rehearsal. But he’s stopped when he speaks corrections of obvious typos in the script, because John’s rights to the play forbid any deviation from the text. That means, for instance, that Mason has to threaten to “hoot” a “bun.” Actress Gloria (Ana Maria Larson, determined to have her way/say) brings along an academic study of Montclair’s dramaturgy to back up every word in the script with praise for the playwright. The result is a perfect blending of script, direction, and acting--fur getting a lode of lapder from the awedience.
