A Tuna Christmas

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Theatrical expertise meets Fun and Frolic head on at Miner’s Alley Playhouse. This time, Fun and Frolic wins hands down.

The Miner’s Alley production of A Tuna Christmas.

A Tuna Christmas, the second in the trilogy written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard grabs the spotlight in Tuna, Texas 24 hours before Christmas, the third smallest town in the Long Horn State. The three comedic writers introduced Tuna to the world first with Greater Tuna. Red, White, And Tuna is the third play in the trilogy. Williams and Sears frequently toured the country performing the 22 small town, off-the-wall characters, while Howard directed. Command performances of both Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas were given at the White House for George H. W. and Barbara Bush.

Yes, 22 characters performed by two actors. At Miners Alley the 22 characters are preformed by Wade Livingston and Jim Whiteman, and directed by Nita Morris Froelich.

With 24 hours to go until Christmas, Tuna finds itself in a dither over a not-quite-coming-together production of A Christmas Carol directed by Joe Bob Lipsey (Livingston) who in polite Tuna society is simply referred to as not-the-marrying-kind.

Vera Carp (Whiteman) prides herself on having won the Annual Christmas Yard Display Contest 14 years in a row. Of course, she expects to win again. This year a mysterious Christmas Phantom threatens to sabotage the outcome. Vera is not exactly what one could classify a Happy Camper.

Stanley Bumiller (Whiteman) dreams of leaving Tuna for bigger and better places, that is, if he can only complete his probation. Through community service, he has a chance with Christmas Carol, unless, of course, someone decides to pull the plug on the lighting.

Stanley’s mother, Bertha (Livingston) tries desperately to make sense out of her family. Not an easy trick with Stanley, Charlene, and Jody (all played by Whiteman).

The comedic, hysterical beauty of A Tuna, Christmas, as with all of the Tuna plays, revolves around the somewhat dim-witted small town characters spewing Texas idioms, and the quick change artists the actors must become with split second timing as one character ambles off one side of the stage and another character by the same actor saunters on from the other side.

When performed up to speed, it leaves one wondering, “How’d he do that?” knowing full well there are only two actors in the entire show.

This production doesn’t quite make the grade to warp speed. There’s no need to ask, “How’d he do that?”

In spite of the slowness, the production continues to be in demand with solid houses and sell out’s. Definitely grand for Miners Alley. However, from a theatrical point of view, it should rattle like gunfire with two actors evolving as 22 full-blown characters.

Along with the slowness of the production, many of the characters suffer from under development.

If you stripped the actors of their costumes, put them in rehearsal clothes of jeans and tee shirts, one would be hard pressed to distinguish some of the characters from others.

In the fictional town of Tuna, Texas there is little resemblance to Texas, except for the wonderful off the wall lines. This Tuna could be anywhere in the United States: Kansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, yes, even Colorado. This especially comes to light in the beginning with Thurston Wheelis (Livingston) and Arlis Struvie (Whiteman) sprawling in their chairs reporting Tuna news over Radio Station OKKK. The characters don’t dive deep enough into Texas mannerisms. The town motto “where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies” might have been applicable at one point, Those words can now easily fit snugly within the boundaries of several Anytowns, USA.

Costumes designed by Alison Axland are definitely wonderfully outrageous. I did have some difficult determining if Di Di Snavely (Whiteman) was male or female the first couple of go-rounds. The short coat, wig, and bare legs said female. The stance, walk, and mannerisms said male. My brain wracked trying to remember the gender when “she” referred to her husband. R R (Livingston) didn’t give me many clues either.

With walks and mannerisms very much the same, the two actors depend too heavily on their costumes, rather than giving themselves entirely over to the characters.

The set designed by Richard H. Pegg gave reason to marvel as the state of Texas crept down the back wall onto the floor of the stage. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that provided a clue Tuna nestles in Texas.

Karalyn “Star” Pytel’s lighting design appropriately punctuates the many scenes, particularly when R R’s belief in UFO’s gives him reason to smile.

The lines themselves give reason for laughter. When Bertha asks Stanley if he got Charlene anything for Christmas, and he answers, “No, they were out of sheep dip” even I had to laugh. With Vera, head of the Obscene Word Committee, striking lines out of Carols so no one sings or hears such questionable words as “round young virgins”, there are plenty of reason to giggle.

The lines, however, aren’t the only reason the audience should be laughing.

“Don’t Mess With Texas” so reads a sign on the back wall of Pegg’s innovative set. Don’t take A Tuna Christmas for granted. It is selling out fast. There are times theatrical expertise just doesn’t matter, and this, obviously, is one of those times. Being smack in the middle of the Holiday Season, people want to have a good time, with reason to laugh. A Tuna Christmas promises a good time with plenty of reasons to laugh at where they’ve come from, or where relatives hail from. Or just the very thought of two actors playing 22 different characters shuffling through every days lives giving credence to Christmas in the only way they know how.

It may not be the tightest production of A Tuna Christmas ever produced, but it is after all, Christmas in Tuna, Texas, which is where the Fun and Frolic comes in, even though theatrical expertise doesn’t quite make it through the front door.