Last night we opened the hilarious quick change comedy, Greater Tuna at Wayside Theatre. It was a fantastic opening night, filled with laughter, and filled with good times. Our remarkable actors, Eddied Staver and Greg Pragel created some magic on the way to playing 20 characters in the span of under two hours. And their magic is made possible by the wonderful team of quick change dressers we have back stage who also did a remarkable job. All in all a great night of watching a couple of excellent actors be excellent clowns as they go back and forth between characters, swapping dresses and heels on and off faster than you can say quick change.
Greater Tuna has become a classic since its debut back in the 1980's (as have its many successors). And watching this production of the show this year, I'm reminded of just how timely the piece is. Presenting the lives of the residents of the tiny town of Tuna, Texas, we get to see some hilarity, but also some of those good old American traits like bigotry and ignorance come to life. The more things change the more they remain the same. Or is that really true?
We did the show back in 2003 and had a successful run then, but I have noticed one signficant change since that time. The character of Elmer, a local Klan member, who gets to make a few public service announcements on radio station OKKK, seems to have a very different impact today than he did back then. You can audibly feel an uncomfortableness in the audience when he introduces himself and goes on about his message. In 2003 when he closed his prayer with the line, "make the world a better place... for the right kind of people" we got big laughs. That's not so funny to audiences today as it was then. Probably because back then I think most folks didn't see Elmer and his ilk as a threat the way we do today. In fact teen audience members take it harder than most, which is intriguing.
But Elmer is as key to the play and the story as are Bertha and Pearl, Petey and Stanley. It's a world I think we all love to laugh at, if only to keep it tucked away, hoping to shield it from our laughs with laughter. But then again... for some maybe not.