Royal Oak Players’ ‘Daddy’s Dyin’ ‘ should be lively
ROBERT MCKINNEY/SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER
Published: November 9, 2007
Updated: November 9, 2007
MARION – “Daddy’s Dyin,’ Who’s Got The Will” appears, at first glance, to be one of those “crazy Texans” comedies such as “Greater Tuna” or “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Published: November 9, 2007
Updated: November 9, 2007
Although it is riotously funny in places, it has the somewhat bitter aftertaste of family dysfunctionality.
And that gives it legs that it wouldn’t have were it simply funny. Humor without anything else, after all, tends to make for a rather thin theatrical soup.
The Royal Oak Players, a group of amateur actors from the Marion area in Smyth County, will be presenting “Daddy’s Dyin’” as dinner theater at Marion’s Holston Hills Country Club on Nov. 9-10.
Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., and the show should begin at about 7:30. The tickets are $20 for buffet dinner and show; $10 for the show only.
Cathy Cook recently assumed the helm of Holston Hills’ dining room, and she is one of the better cooks (pun entirely intended) that I know, so I plan on signing up for the whole shebang.
The play revolves around poor old Buford Turnover (Charlie Sturgill), who has had several strokes and has been carted home to his Texas ranch house to die. His family and relatives are already circling like West Texas buzzards anxious to divvy up the old boy’s sizable estate the second he kicks his last – or maybe a kick or two before.
The only problem is that Daddy’s will is missing, presumably in his basement strongbox to which no one seems to have the key.
Daddy, meanwhile, keeps hallucinating that he has a redhead in bed with him. I doubt that the playwright has ever flown over Texas, much less set foot in it, because his characters are about as stereotypically “Texan” as you can get.
That might offend genuine Lone Star staters, but the effect here is funny in its very broadness. After all, we’ve all met most of these characters in real life one time or another.
Sarah Lee Turnover (Christina Irene) is a 36-year-old hairdresser, overweight and constantly looking for a man; Lurlene Turnover Rogers (Joanie McCleary), 42, is the Bible-thumping wife of a self-ordained preacher; Mama Wheelis, 80, (Vicki Hale) is the fiery grandmother; Evalita Turnover (Taryn Mensch) is the youngest sister at 35, a tramp who’s gone through six husbands already; and Marlene Turnover (Barbara Brown) is the emotionally and physically abused wife of Orville Turnover (David Peake), an ignorant and violent redneck.
Harmony Rhodes, 36, is Evalita’s latest boyfriend, a hippie vegetarian who, in typical fashion, turns out to be far nobler than any of the Texans, even though smoking a little dope and running away with a married woman doesn’t seem to bother him a bit.
Debbie Peake is the producer, and everybody has pitched in to build sets and so forth.
Although I haven’t seen the play’s final production, I was lucky enough to sit in on a rehearsal the other night, and it’s hard not to expect a fun evening. The Royal Oak Players themselves come from just about every walk of life imaginable and are about as nutty as a Fort Worth praline factory.
They seem to have a really good camaraderie and enthusiasm for what they do, even though their runs are short, and the audiences not always standing room only.
I have seen several of their productions, and they are always quite entertaining. If you’ve ever tried your hand at amateur theater – and I have – you know how much work it is and the dedication required.
This production is open to anybody, not just members of the Holston Hills Country Club. In the past, there has been some confusion on this point. In fact, the Holston Hills Restaurant is now open to everyone, not just club members.
Neither ties – nor lime green golfing pants with little purple dolphins on them – are required.
For reservations, call (276) 783-8118 during regular business hours. Don’t hang up if you get a doctor’s office – you do have the right number. In addition, you can call (276) 783-6089 for reservations. This second number is a private residence, so please don’t call after getting off the midnight shift.
Sure, the Royal Oak Players are hardworking folks who deserve the community’s support, but don’t go just for that reason.
Go expecting to be well-fed and very well-entertained. You won’t be disappointed.
ROBERT McKINNEY is a freelance writer. He may be contacted at .
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