Review: Prism Productions Solves the MURDER AT CAFE NOIR at The Timbers

There's nothing better than a comeback kid-especially in a small-town theatre scene. When the Circle Bar B Ranch evicted producers Susie and David Couch and their very popular Circle Bar B Dinner Theatre last year in favor of repurposing the space, probably for something disappointingly banal (like a wedding venue), patrons of the arts had a range of reactions, from disappointment and ire that another roadblock was being put in the way of flourishing theatre, to real sadness that the era of the Couches' summer-camp-fun aesthetic of theatre would soon fade into memory.

Circle Bar B dinner theatre featured easygoing, family-friendly entertainment--a unique duck in the Santa Barbara theatrical menagerie. Due to accessible choices in plays, a folksy, bumpkin-chic atmosphere, and the fact that actors always seemed to be having unapologetic fun onstage, the Couches developed a following of enthusiastic audiences, many of whom held season tickets for dozens of years.

Now, rebranded as Prism Productions, Susie and Dave Couch have started the circus up again at The Timbers. Murder at Café Noir features many favorite local actors, including Sean Jackson as the gruff detective on the lookout for a missing dame; Susie Couch as the Mysterious French Madame; Erica Flor as the stab-you-in-the-back-and-steal-your-drink femme fatale; Brandi Wolff as the sensual voodoo priestess; and Chris Short, David Couch, and Rodney Baker as various citizens, bouncers, heroes, and villains of the seedy Caribbean cafe.

Questions I've been asked:

1. "I thought Circle Bar B dinner theatre was over."
2. "Isn't The Timbers, like, condemned?"

These are, to be fair, legitimate concerns. Would Prism Productions' debut--a new version of an old company, in a fresh venue--provide fans of Circle Bar B's previous work the same rustic, comfortable charm they'd experienced out at the ranch? And was the fire department agreeable to the idea of filling a condemned log house with a hundred people keen to eat at a buffet and watch a murder mystery?

As it turns out, The Timbers is a quaint restaurant space perfectly satisfactory for accommodating Murder at Café Noir's interactive zeal. In fact, the absence of a traditional theatrical seating arrangement allowed the performers the potential for a wider range of antics than the Circle Bar B barn, and performers took advantage of the space to stalk and flirt their way around the dinner tables while interrogating each other about the murder of Andre Gauvreau. An engaging spoof of Casablanca-style detective films, Murder at Café Noir is suitably wacky. An everyone's-a-suspect caper in which the audience eventually chooses the guilty party, the script requires little of the performers beyond a hammed-up gumshoe or lady-of-the-night routine. However, the standout skills are evident in the cast's handle on improvisation and audience interaction. For example, Sheila Wonderly (Erica Flor as the flirty femme fatale) sashayed about the diners, stealing morsels of food and sips of drinks from patrons. One of the funniest moments of the evening was when Sheila stole my glass and swigged deeply, luxuriously, only to realize too late that I'd been drinking whiskey, not wine. Her subsequent series of expressions told a story in their own microsecond of stardom: surprise, horror, nausea, and finally, with a forced swallow, acceptance. The cast excelled at this type of improvisational humor.

Murder at Café Noir is a laidback night of appealing theatrical absurdity with an accompanying meal consisting of an appetizer, salad, entrée (there is a vegetarian option, thank you!) and dessert. BYOB, or wait for a better-prepared patron to sell you a beer from their six-pack. Come down to The Timbers for the first of what is already poised to be a successful reincarnation of Circle Bar B's eager and authentic dinner theatre.

Murder at Café Noir
By David Landau
Produced by Prism Productions

September 17th-27th (Now Extended until October 3rd)
At The Timbers Restaurant, Goleta
www.prismproductions.org

COMING UP NEXT for Prism Productions:

Will Rogers' America (October)

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswoman's Guild Dramatic Society presents A Christmas Carol (December)

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