Article Image Alt Text

Ready to do the splits to prove that she’s still got what it takes to be a distraction to an unwitting man, Stella (Megan McQuown) is quickly stopped by fellow nursing home residents Gino (Jerry Brandt), pictured at left, and Albert (Pete Markle) in “The Great Nursing Home Escape.” — The Holyoke Enterprise | Johnson Publications

Wisecracks, physical comedy provide double the humor in Players’ weekend theater

    Those who watched the Phillips County Players’ last play, “No Body Like Jimmy,” likely walked away wondering whether the crew would ever be able to pull off another comedy quite as funny as that one. Well as far as this viewer is concerned, the Players rose to the challenge with their Nov. 10-11 double feature at the Peerless Theatre.
    The Saturday and Sunday matinees featured two one-act plays: “Kaffe Klatch,” written and directed by Holyoke’s Dolly Smith, and “The Great Nursing Home Escape,” written by Nathan Hartswick and directed by Penny Dockins. Bob Brandt did light and sound design for both.
    Smith’s “Kaffe Klatch” was set in a Norwegian couple’s home, where the ladies enjoyed coffee in the kitchen and the men had a few beers in the yard before the group of friends headed out to watch a play. Smith combined family lore, jokes and tales in her play, and not a single line was wasted (though some of them may have caused the audience to wonder whether the characters were).
    Making up the cast of “Kaffe Klatch” were Smith, Janel Wailes, Lauri Gibbs, Karen Swan, Megan McQuown, Eric Conklin, Pete Markle, Jack Gorwitz, Billy Salyers and Jerry Brandt.
    Following an intermission, the Players returned to the stage for “The Great Nursing Home Escape,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Pete Markle, Swan, Wailes, McQuown, Brandt and Smith played quirky residents of a nursing home, who were itching to get out and find some excitement. Gorwitz and Susan Markle were staff members largely oblivious to the antics happening right under their noses.
    Several of the actors appeared in both plays, making seamless transitions from their knee-slapping Norwegian characters to their elderly nursing home personas.
    Swan, a longtime Player, portrayed an exceptionally believable “currently quite disgruntled” former DMV employee. Despite her sour attitude and a collective lack of able bodies, the residents hatched a plot to escape so they could go enjoy a baseball game, complete with candied apples — even if a blender would be necessary to eat them.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.

Holyoke Enterprise

970-854-2811 (Phone)

130 N Interocean Ave
PO Box 297
Holyoke CO 80734