Entering Poway Performing Arts Company's home, it's apparent this will be a different kind of theater experience. Mounted animal heads, antlers, Texas memorabilia, and much more adorn the walls and lobby. A second clue of things to come is the pre-show music. It's been a long time since I've seen an audience listening and reacting to pre-show and between-scene music. Sound Designer Lou Alliano's selection of country tunes enhance the jocular mood of the evening. The John Ivey set, dressed by Camel, Inc., has the perfect feel of a large country farmhouse. The wall decorations tell us much about the residents, their family, their religious attitude, their plainness, their life. Just exactly what is Del Shores' Daddy's Dyin' Who's Got the Will? all about? All are assembled for the pending demise of Buford "Daddy" Turnover (John Ivy). All are in search of "The Will."
Enter village hairdresser Sara Lee Turnover (Chris Bain) with hair piled a foot high. She immediately introduces us to her two sides -- the natural, slightly profane self and the for-relatives' consumption sweet, almost angelic, self. Older sister Lurlene Turnover Rogers (Peggy Nielsen), a bible-belting preacher's wife, quickly establishes her territory as a moral arbiter of the family, who refuses to hear blasphemous language and corrects such immediately. Nielsen's body language reinforces her character's uprightness. However, it is Anisa Shamis Cox, as Mama Wheelis -- crusty clan patriarch -- who absolutely steals the show. Blessed with some of playwright Del Shores' best lines, Cox, whose stature is minimal, makes those who tower over her cower. Dawn Marie Himlin, as Evalita Turnover, joins the growing group, in a costume obviously designed to save the designer, Molly Eggers, her meager fabric budget. Evalita is a woman who goes through husbands faster than the Indy 500 goes through cars. Her idea of a good time is a couple of six packs of long-neck Lone Stars and the nearest man.
Evalita brought her current beau, Harmony Rhodes (David Blaise Meredith), a long-haired hippie. He is not exactly well regarded in this mid-80s tiny Texas backwash of a village. Ironically, Harmony may be the only whole person in the household. Orville and his wife Marlene Turner (Robert Shadbolt and Beth Mercurio) round out the group of visiting misfits. Again, non-relative Marlene exudes a strange degree of sanity that the kinfolk seem to have lost. Shadbolt's Orville is an overbearing, overweight lout that needs a good whooping, and Mama Wheelis is just the right administrator.
The honoree of this loving family is deathbed-bound Buford "Daddy" Turnover, played by John Ivey. Ivey has some absolutely brilliant moments as a stroke victim. He convincingly vacillates from delirium to moments of lucidity. Director Stringfield has assembled an excellent cast to play these misfits, giving them both direction and a loose rein, allowing each to grow and develop their roles. As each character allows us to see another side, the change was logical and predictable.
It's obvious the cast is having fun, which gives the audience a delightful experience with many gut-wrenching laughs. However, I miss, dearly, that special Texas twang. The mix of Southern accents, while giving the play a southern feel, does not bespeak of rural west Texas. Jim Millard, as usual, adorns the set with nice clean light. Molly Eggers splurged on the basic flowery shirtwaist dresses of the ladies. Cox is attired, for the most part, in plain house dresses. Shadbolt is in basic slob, while Ivey wears traditional farmwear. Thus, Eggers' choices are fitting, but where's the playbill credit for the wig constructor/designers? Bain's pile, Nielsen's huge mop and Cox's grey monster are all delightfully rural Texas. Meredith's sideward flowing tresses also seem authentic.
Daddy's Dyin' Who's Got the Will? is an amusement as well as a look at the true meaning of relationships, love, and kinship. There's also a right bit o' singin' including Meredith on guitar and solo, as well as a trio, an ensemble number which includes the pre-recorded voices of The Himlin Family Singers.
