The Ringgold Playhouse brings a madcap farce to the Depot
Being a travelling actor in 1953 New York was no easy task, I imagine. Finding steady work and spending time with your family, while still living out your dream of becoming an actor, sounds challenging, even in today’s society.
It may have been no easy task for George Hay, but he makes it look hilarious in The Ringgold Playhouse’s production of “Moon Over Buffalo”, which will be performed at the Ringgold Depot beginning Thursday.
“Moon Over Buffalo”, written by Ken Ludwig in 1995, is a farcical comedy set in Buffalo, New York in 1953. It tells the story of travelling actor George Hay and his wife Charlotte, and the struggles they face while trying to figure out where they want their acting careers to take them. The Ringgold Playhouse’s production is directed by Kimberly Tyner Jones and features a cast of eight.
“So this is like a play within a play within a play. It’s two aging actors, Charlotte and George, who do repertoire, which is two plays in one. They’re doing ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ and ‘Private Lives’. But what they really want to do is be Hollywood stars,” explained Jones.
“They find out that Ronald Colman, who is a Hollywood star, has broken his leg, and he can no longer do the film Twilight of the Scarlet Pimpernel. And Frank Capra, who is the director, is coming to see them,” Jones said. “In the meantime, there are other things that go on; mistaken identity, there’s infidelity, there’s drunkenness, wrong costumes, everything that can go wrong does go wrong in this show. It’s probably one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen.”
The cast started rehearsals about six weeks ago, and Jones said they’ve been incredibly dedicated to their roles while also being hilarious to work with. This is Jones’ third show with The Ringgold Playhouse; she’s acted and directed at the Depot, the Colonnade Center, and the Tivoli, in addition to her past experience living in South Georgia. Jones has also directed “Lend Me a Tenor”, another Ken Ludwig comedy, so she’s quite familiar with his work.
“There’s a lot of physical comedy. There’s a lot of misunderstandings and costume mistakes and running in and out of doors. The thing with a farce is that there’s a lot of opening and slamming of doors. We have five. So people are going in and coming out, slamming doors dramatically,” Jones said.
Jones believes it’s important to allow her cast, once they’ve established their characters, to make suggestions about things they think their characters might do on stage. If they feel their character should be standing at a certain location or displaying a certain emotion, Jones encourages her cast to voice their opinions.
“The way I feel, an actor who gets into his or her character owns that character and knows that character. Even better than the director. I mean, I know that play backwards and forwards, and I can visualize everything I want to happen in my head,” Jones said. “I’ve been an actor most of my life, and coming from that end to directing, it sort of gives me a unique perspective rather than those who only direct.”
The set itself is another interesting aspect of “Moon Over Buffalo”, as the set is actually the green room at the Depot. Jones explained that the green room is typically where the cast hangs out before a show, where they can rehearse their lines or simply relax. It’s the room between the stage that has access to other parts of the venue. And, because the show is being performed at the Depot, which is a historic location, they’re limited on ways they can modify the set.
“In this production, because there’s three different shows, two within the other one, the ‘Cyrano’ scene is going to take place in front of the curtain, on the proscenium and on the floor, and for ‘Private Lives’, we’ve built platforms that are actually going to roll out to the middle to present our balcony. Then we just roll them back, and they’ll be part of the set,” Jones explained. “And that’s the beauty of theater, getting creative. If we were in, say the Colonnade or the Theatre Centre, they have that extra wing space; they can roll in their different set pieces with plenty of room. But we don’t have that, so we have to get a little more creative.”
“Moon Over Buffalo” is going to be performed at the historic Ringgold Depot beginning Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and will run June 21–22 and 27–29, with an additional 2 p.m. matinee show on June 29. Tickets are available online or at the door.
If you’ve ever wanted a chance to experience the hilarious comedy of Ken Ludwig on stage, complete with mistaken identities, disastrous performances, slamming doors, and more, then you definitely don’t want to miss The Ringgold Playhouse’s production of “Moon Over Buffalo”.