BWW Reviews: Duo Delights in A TUNA CHRISTMAS at Circuit Playhouse

Greater Tuna plays have been a Memphis tradition since the 1990's. A Tuna Christmas, Directed by Ann Marie Hall (Singin' in the Rain), the second in this series, is a wild yuletide caper that introduces us to the eccentric residents of Tuna--Texas' third-smallest town. This loosely-structured story by Ed Howard, Joe Sears, and Jaston Williams centers around two concrete problems: the hunt for a "Christmas Phantom" who is sabatoging lawn displays before an annual competition, and the fate of a jeopardized community production of A Christmas Carol. But plot matters little in this character-driven story in which two actors make total transformations, crossing gender and age barriers time and again in order to play all the roles. Stage Manager, Austin Collins and Costume Costume Designer, Caleb Brown (both of Reefer Madness) and an on-their-toes support crew meet the elaborate demands in head-spinning fashion, adding to the larger-than-life energy of the production.

The humor in the show is satiric and farcical, but never mean-spirited. Characters are over-the-top and silly without being boistrously overacted. The audience around me laughed uproariously while I mostly marveled at the level of theatrical craft: sound comedic choices, elaborate pantomime (the show moves so quickly that there are minimal props), convincing vocal variety and great acting. The script is loaded with zingers and the actors play for laughs, yet all of Tuna's God-fearing Baptists, at the core, revealed a bittersweet realism that grew on me. Funny as it was, it warmed my heart to see Bertha slow dancing in Arles' arms at the end.

You won't walk out of this show enlightened, pensive or any wiser, but you will be smiling. A trip to Tuna is the perfect way to reawaken your mirthful side as we enter this season to be jolly.

Michael Gravois (Clybourne Park) plays: disc jockey Arles Struvie, firearms retailer Didi Snavely, animal activist, Petey Fisk, boistrous tot Jody Bumiller, juvenile offender Stanley Bumiller, lovestruck community theater maven Charlene Bumillerr, town snob Vera Carp, electric company controller Dixie Deberry, waitress Helen Bedd, little person Farley Burkhalter and soda distributor Garland Poteet.

John Hemphill plays: disc jockey Thurston Wheelis, eccentric Elmer Watkins, housewife Bertha Bumiller, businessman Leonard Childers, UFO-ologist R.R. Snavely, Aunt Bertha, Sheriff Givens, highway worker Ike Thompson, waitress, Inita Goodwin, Farley's wife Phoebe Burkhalte and community theatre director Joe Bob Lipsey.

A Tuna Christmas runs Thursdays - Sundays, November 15 - December 29, 201at The Circuit Playhouse, 51 S. Cooper St. Purchase tickets online at playhouseonthesquare.org or call 901-726-4656.

Photos by John Moore.