Review: CALL ME MARA at The Weekend Theater

Arkansas is full of creative talent, and when I catch the premiere of a new production, I get so excited. At the beginning of March, the Weekend Theater was home to the world premiere of CALL ME MARA, a new original work from Arkansas writer Phillip H. McMath, which he collaborated with Director Donna Singleton. Set during World War II, this drama taps into the emotions as it deals with duty and dangerous possibilities.  

The war is in full swing, and boys that are old enough are being enlisted, either by volunteer or drafted. James (Jon Hatton) is able to stay home because the family business is making parts for airplanes that are used to fight in the war. His sister Olivia (Kirsten Rasmussen) has met wallflower Mara (Leslie Beard) at school and wants to have a party at her house. Mara’s father Max (Drew Ellis) owns the company that is building the planes, and Olivia tells James to go and make friends with Mara. James goes and has a good time hanging out with Mara but does not intend for it to go any farther than the one evening. His parents Betty (Tricia H Spione) and Ray (Tommie Tinker), along with his sister, have opportunistic ideas that push James toward Mara. Mara quickly falls in love with James, and James decides to enlist in the war. Is it because he was afraid of a relationship with Mara? He says no, but his sister thinks it is her fault. James tells Mara he is going off to war, they have a night together, and then he leaves. She ends up pregnant, he ends up missing, it’s a sad ending for everyone, except that Mara doesn’t give up hope that one day James will return. 

I was wrapped up in the story from the beginning. As an ensemble, the troupe were great storytellers. Even though I wished they wouldn’t have given away the ending at the beginning speech, I didn’t think about it until Act II when James enlisted. Hatton did a great job as a privileged son who has inner turmoil about not being made to join. His brother/sister relationship with Rasmussen’s Olivia was believable and his chemistry with Beard’s Mara was sweet. Another fun duo was Spione and Tinker as they plotted against their son. I was a little surprised with all of the swear words from Spione’s Betty, but I decided it was because she was a progressive woman with a slight rebellious streak. I mean....if you are going to push your son to be friendly with the rich man’s daughter, that is a bit more forward thinking than normal from a mother in the 1940s.  

Ellis’ Max and Beard’s Mara have a close relationship, since her mother has died. She does have Molly (Deb Lewis) to step in as her mother figure, and all three make up a family who is really trying to be connected. Ellis was great as a stern businessman who loves his daughter. Love could be felt in his interactions with Mara. Beard’s Mara was darling. I loved her optimism and expressive eyes. Lewis was comforting as Mara’s caretaker, and I loved her accent.  

Before the show, Director Singleton addressed the audience talking about the process of getting CALL ME MARA on The Weekend Theater stage. 

“Phillip and I have been on this journey together since the fall of 2019. We've been through five revisions, the recording of a podcast (thank you COVID), and finally we have landed the show here on the stage of the Weekend Theater, which has always been our goal is to put it on the stage. It has been a wonderful journey. Thank you so much, Phillip.” 

Singleton also directed our attention to the display out in the lobby. 

“I would also have you take a look again at the lobby display that's out there. Look at it during intermission. This is provided to us by the MacArthur Museum of Military History and the Ray Fuller Collection. We are so happy to have this here. Look at that display that has the uniform in it, because it is about an Arkansas native that was missing in action from World War II, and I always believe that the things we forget are the things we have the chance of repeating, so let's keep this memory alive.”  

  Prior to CALL ME MARA, McMath has produced four other plays at The Weekend Theater: Dress Blues (1999), The Hanging of David O. Dodd (2011), Karski’s Message (2015), and lincoln’s Dream (2019). He has been inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame, and by trade he was a trial lawyer, retiring in 2015. For more information about this author, you can visit his website at https://www.phillipmcmath.com.   

Coming up in April is AMERICAN BEAUTY, which is directed by the wonderful Bob Bidewell. For more information, visit https://www.weekendtheater.org. 

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