Dartmouth Players Presents: "Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean"
Although I had heard the word grouping “Come Back to the
Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” numerous times, I had never
seen a production of the Ed Graczyk play until today. Sitting inside the
Dartmouth Players’ theatre minutes before the “curtain went up,” based on title
alone, I was expecting a light comedy reminiscent of Happy Days.
I quickly learned my assumptions were wrong and for the
first 10 or so minutes my mind wandered away from the Texan five-and-dime scene
before me. This is no fault of the actors or the script, as it is no easy task to
immediately engage an audience with a dialogue-intensive script
As it turns out there was no need for a flashy sock hop
scene or a James Dean look-a-like speeding across the stage in a Porsche Super
Speedster. After an initial period of distraction, my focus became wholly
engrossed in the performance and before I knew it, it was intermission! For the
first time in quite a while, a longer than average play (two-and-a-half hours)
flew by, where I had felt more like an immersed guest, rather than an audience
member separated by the “fourth wall”.
This satisfying
theatrical experience was due to a combination of Graczyk’s script and the
Dartmouth Players’ interpretation of it. The reunion of the “Disciples of James
Dean,” 20 years after his death, proved both boldly hilarious and profoundly emotional,
so much so that I found myself laughing (even when others were not) and yet
mirroring the tears of those literally present on stage.
Mona’s (played by Lynne Sampson) solemn obsession with the “father
of her child” and Juanita’s (played by Debbie Williams) God-fearing convictions
were ideally balanced with the comically boisterous Sissy (played by Leslie
Milne) and the equally funny, even more boisterous Stella (played by Katherine
Tufts, whose vocal chords miraculously appeared not to be damaged…yet). A
particularly poignant monologue—perhaps the most moving of the production—was delivered
by Valerie MacKenzie as Joanne; and, each morsel of Edna’s (played by Kelly
Doney Morrison) entertaining, self-deprecating delivery was craved and
savoured.
One slick element of the production was how the company
created a smooth transition between 1955 and 1975 by creatively adjusting the
lights and a simple ceiling fan. Annika Borg, Hillary Windsor and Jakob
Creighton, playing the younger versions of “The Disciples,” also effectively
enabled this time travel cohesion, delivering their lines with just the right
timing. I would have liked the apparitions of a certain “ghost” to have
appeared just as cleverly—perhaps with some simple technical manoeuvring to
create a more ethereal ambiance—but this is a minor critique.
Leaving the theatre, I was grateful that the production
turned out much differently than I expected—a piece filled with faux pas (it may
have been considered somewhat controversial when Graczyk first released his
script), twists and 20-old secrets finally revealed. ~ MB
You still have time to see Dartmouth Players’ “Come Back to
the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” this Wednesday through Saturday (April
24-27) at 8PM!
