Over The River and Through The Woods

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Nestled on the verge of Raton Pass on the Colorado/New Mexico border sits the oldest town in Colorado. With brick paved streets and charming stone buildings going back to the late 1800s, Trinidad wears its age with charm, dignity, and vitality to rival any teenage attitude of taking on the world with open arms, strength, power, and courage.

A great deal of that vitality stems from the Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre. Trinidad State Junior College operated SCRT. Because of budget cuts, they were forced to say, “We can’t do this anymore.” Because they have a vision for this small town, because they believe in the power of the arts, because they honestly believe this small theatre has long proven its rightful place, a group of citizens grabbed the bull by the horns and said, “we’ll run it.”

Running three plays through the summer on alternating nights, SCRT boasts, and rightfully so, an outstanding menu of artistic delight. They sport Mary Chase’s Harvey, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, and Joe DiPietro’s Over The River and Through The Woods. An ambitious project for any theatre, an ambitious project that works for SCRT.

Last week a friend from California and I drove to Trinidad to taste the enthusiasm emanating from this determined theatre. Trinidad has reason to be proud. The Board of Directors has sound reason to show off the bull they grabbed by the horns. He should be bronzed and placed on display in the middle of town, and if the Board has anything to say about it, he will be.

DiPietro’s humorous, charming, and brilliantly written Over The River explores the conniving depth of love by Italian grandparents for a grandson flirting with moving to Seattle for an enticing promotion.

Under the direction of Harriet Vaugeois, the talented cast carries the audience into the beautifully appointed home of the Gianelli’s in Hoboken, New Jersey. The set designed by Josh Morris provides details of the dining room, living room and outside the front door. With a strong eye for design, Morris makes the most of his space. There is the distinct feeling of peering through a window to observe the chaotic ranting of overbearing, controlling, but loving grandparents. A small distraction appears with the two clocks, a Grandfather clock and a clock on a shelf, not running. Technically, it may not be possible. It is also highly probable that most people might not notice, or even care. For one scanning the set with an eagle eye, it was a slightly bothersome technicality.

With a sense of humor in tact, Dean Cechvala assumes the demeanor of Nick who opens the play in narration from a corner of the stage. Every Sunday he goes to Sunday dinner at Frank (Michael East) and Aida (Tanisha Gonzalez). Every Sunday they are joined by the second pair of grandparents Emma (Connie McNaught) and Nunzio (Vaugeois).

This Sunday, Nick has an announcement.

With smothering competitive love, getting a word in edgewise is no small trick for Nick.

Aida’s answer to everything is food, forever asking everyone if they are hungry, before, during, and after meals. Aida and Nick are convinced Frank needs to turn in his car keys, that his days of driving are over. In traditional Italian families everyone talks at the same time. They seem to have the ability to talk and listen at the same time, or maybe the conversation is so repetitive each already knows what the other is going to say, and listening isn’t necessary. The four aptly keep up the cadence of the grandparents’ verbal running dance.

When Nick has a panic attack from being eaten alive by the loving meddling grandparents, it is Frank who drives him to the hospital proudly announcing he did it without incident.

The four protective mother hens posing as grandparents just know if they set Nick up with a pretty girl, he will fall madly in love, get married, settle down, stay put, and forget about career enhancement. The family, which is most important to everyone, will remain together. Family is what makes the world go round for the four.

They just happen to know one pretty available girl.

Enter Chris Staffel as Caitlin, who has deliberately been invited to a subsequent Sunday dinner. There are sparks of camaraderie, but there are also sparks of differences of opinion between the two.

Cechvala easily walks in Nick’s shoes, sliding from one emotion to another with artistic ease. Staffel contains the essence of Caitlin, but it would behoove her to take a deep breath, and relax. Her arms and body language announce stiffness, allowing Staffel to break through the Caitlin character. She has a grasp of the character. She just needs to know she has it.

From the laughter of the audience, Over The River rings true with the audience. The characters and brilliantly written lines are so believable; many must have felt they were peeking into their own family background with fond memories.

With the young talented cast who obviously understands character development, there is one element that does need attention: Make-up and wigs. While the gray wigs denote age, the faces appear too young. The weight of a secret of a life threatening disease shows on the stance and movement of Nunzio, but his face reveals a young handsome actor. The wigs especially for Aida and Emma need attention for a better fit. Their walk and stance and youthful faces belie the adopted characters. The expressions are there. The body language is there. The all too youthful faces stand in the way.

Act II takes on a higher energy profile when the plot thickens and things get rolling. Nunzio’s reminiscing over how he met Emma and the meaning of the song “Yes Sir, that’s My Baby” cuddles warmth under crusty exteriors from people who know each other extremely well. His eyes shine when he says, “She was so beautiful you could drink her through a glass,” and you know Vaugeois has found Nunzio’s soul.

Trinidad and the Board of Directors have reason to be proud of their theatre. They have reason to hold the vision of SCRT being a nationally recognized professional theatre. It will be.

I can hardly wait to go back to drink in the atmosphere and watch SCRT grow. Because the 249-seat Massari performing Arts Center belongs to the Junior College, The Board is looking for a permanent space for the theatre. Hopefully, it will nestle into one of those very old historical stone buildings.

If you go, stop at Rino’s Italian Restaurant, operated by three brothers with their singing waiters. The food is exquisite. The personable wait staff will charm the socks off you, while providing excellent service. The singing waiters run through operatic melodies with flair and awesome talent. The building finished in 1800 first housed a Christian Church, subsequently the Presbyterians before becoming an elegant delectable Italian restaurant.

A straight shot down Interstate 25 from Denver, it took 3 hours and 15 minutes with heavy traffic through Colorado Springs and on and off heavy rain. Coming home it took only 2 hours and 45 minutes. Over The River is definitely a production worth experiencing. SCFT is a theatre worth exploring. Mark my word. They are going to be on the map.