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Stow Players steps up with comedy in new season

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October 25, 2009
Photo courtesy of Stow Players Even Crosby the dog gets in on the mixed-up mayhem, along with Kitty (Chanda Porter) and Mark (Dan Sekanic), in the Stow Players production of “Taking Steps.”
Photo courtesy of Stow Players Even Crosby the dog gets in on the mixed-up mayhem, along with Kitty (Chanda Porter) and Mark (Dan Sekanic), in the Stow Players production of “Taking Steps.”

"'Taking Steps' is a farce. It's meant to make you laugh." - Alan Ayckbourn, author of "Taking Steps."

That's all Stow Players needed to know when they read it and decided it should be part of their 2009-10 season.

The play will be directed by Dan Sekanic. It opens Nov. 6.

At "The Pines," a drab, dreary, reputedly haunted house and former brothel in the middle of England, Elizabeth (Sarah Ratka of Akron), a former go-go dancer with delusions of grandeur, has decided to leave her husband, country-loving bucket manufacturer and sometime alcoholic Roland (Steve Boardman of Hudson). Elizabeth has called her brother Mark (Dan Sekanic of Brunswick) to help comfort Roland, but Mark has troubles of his own. His fiancée Kitty (Chanda Porter of Cuyahoga Falls), who recently jilted him at the altar, has been picked up on suspicion of soliciting, so he decides to drag her back to the house and put her in the attic. Meanwhile, Roland, oblivious to the fact his wife has left him, is about ready to buy the house from the builder's son, the Yamaha-riding, Leslie (Record Publishing Co.'s Scott Shriner), while Tristram (Mark Bernhardt of Stow), a completely inept yet strangely endearing young lawyer, tries to seal the deal.

Hilarity ensues as Roland discovers his wife has left him and he plunges into an inebriated haze. Elizabeth waffles on her decision to leave several times. Mark's monotonous voice puts everyone to sleep. Kitty gets trapped in a cupboard. Leslie lies through his teeth to sell the house. Tristram spends the night with what he believes to be Scarlet Lucy, the ghost of a dead prostitute.

To further complicate matters, all three levels of the house -- the main floor, the first floor bedroom, and the attic -- are seen on one level, connected by two flights of stairs, which are also on one level. Author Ayckbourn conceived the play for the small, in-the-round stage at his company's theater in England, so the Players' Heritage Barn "stage" works perfectly.

Assisting Sekanic are Mike Guffey, Players' co-technical director, as stage manager, Dave Sherman on lights and sound; and Players' president Lorena Goold and president-elect Anne Guffey handle props and costumes.

Show dates are Nov. 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 20 and 21, with Friday and Saturday evening performances at 8 p.m. and the Sunday matinee on Nov. 15 at 2:30 p.m. A special BOGO (Buy one ticket, get one free) is scheduled for Nov. 7. General admission tickets are $12; Senior citizens and students are $10.

The Players' theater is in Heritage Barn, 5328 Young Road, Silver Springs Park Back Entrance, in Stow.

Call the Stow Players box office voice mail at 330-655-6051 for reservations and information.




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