Not all
theater has to be Eugene O’Neill (not that you see much O’Neill around here,
anyway). It is instructive to see how much can be said in a couple of pages of
pointed dialogue. The Geriactors, “Rochester’s
Traveling Senior Theatre Troupe”, is an ensemble of six vastly experienced
local actors you’ve seen everywhere over the years: Greg Byrne, Roger Gans, Ellen Herzman, Darrell
Lance, Linda Loy, and Jim Scholes. Their contribution to this year’s Fringe
Festival, which had its first performance at Writers & Books on Thursday
night, is a smorgasbord of 10 short plays by Rochester playwrights, and a fun
way to spend a little less than an hour.
That’s right:
the 10 writers and six actors wrap up all of these two-hand vignettes quickly
and entertainingly in 50 minutes, helped by director Jean Gordon Ryon and music director Elaine Fuller. None of these
compact little items is a dud, and most of them are quite amusing. Kory Andrieu’s “Texas Veal” demonstrates just what a calf may
have gone through before becoming your dinner. Byron Wilmot’s “S.S.F.P.” spoofs
what might be called the psycho-singles scene. Ted Wenskus’
“Salt of the Earth,” an encounter between two old-school Russians, comes off
like a scene from a Woody Allen movie (an early Woody Allen movie).
A couple of
the plays touch lightly but firmly on serious subjects (“Don’t Wait” by Allan
Howe and “The Snow Circle” by Steve Huff). The other plays are by Kelly Yoho,
R.H. Herzog, Henry Williams, Karl Obine, and Ken Klamm. They vary in substance, but none outstay their
welcome.
The Geriactors are uniformly charming and play off each other
in their various duets with aplomb. Calling them “old pros” may not sound all
that gracious in this context, but clearly experience tells.
The Geriactors will also present Rochester
Playwrights Wednesday, September 25, 7 p.m., and Saturday,
September 28, 2 p.m. at Writers & Books. Tickets cost $15.
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2013.
