Review of Bandera, Texas at Prism Theatre Company

    If we have no problem suspending our disbelief for the Ghost of Hamlet’s father or for great Caesar’s ghost in Brutus’s tent or even for Noel Coward’s blithe spirit, why should we have any problem suspending our disbelief for the two departed grandmothers who appear in Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend’s play Bandera, Texas? I certainly had no problem watching the current production by the Prism Theatre Company.

    Where I do have a little suspension-of-disbelief problem is with the character of Dave. He’s the husband whose new job has just brought him and Liz from New York, Liz’s home town, to his home town in the barren Texas Hill Country. As soon as they arrive and start unpacking, Dave’s father and brother pressure him into joining them for a beer, or two or three, to celebrate his arrival. Dave does hesitate, but hey, it’s his family. As he goes, he does warn Liz to be careful of scorpions as she unpacks. I do have a problem believing that a husband would leave his pregnant wife to do the unpacking while he drinks beer. But that’s the direction Feriend takes the story.

    Dave’s departure allows the grandmothers to appear. After a little edginess about which one Liz loves best, they unite to help her unpack and to adjust to life away from New York in a trailer on land where nothing will grow and with a nest of rattlesnakes underneath it. The grandmothers also give the playwright a comic duo to display her skill at writing brisk, funny, and telling dialogue, and they keep the play happily dancing with wit and invention. In a note in the script from the playwright, she says, “The dialogue should move at a steady clip – think ’The West Wing’ or ’Gilmore Girls.’” And it does, both in the writing and in the playing. Feriend knows how to construct a play, grow a character, establish a scene’s rhythms, and delight the ear, brain, and heart with her dialogue. 

    Prism’s artistic director Trish Brown directed this production with a sure feel for how it should be played. The cast has a pair of St. Louis theatre’s best as the grandmothers, Leslie Wobbe and Jenni Ryan. Watching how Maggie Lehman displays all the dimensions of Liz’s love and dilemma is a pleasure in itself. Mike DePope makes Dave such a likable fellow that you can’t be too hard on him for what he does. Ryan Burns gets a challenge that actors love: he’s given eleven characters to play, including the two grandfathers, a priest, a clerk at the snack counter at an Iowa Greyhound station, and Bobby Kennedy. By the time Kennedy shows up to open the second act, you are ready to suspend your disbelief for him, too. Ryan manages to make each character distinct. Sometimes I had to remind myself that it was still the same actor. 

    Scenic designer Leah McFall constructed the outline of the trailer with steel pipes, with a couch at one end and the compact kitchen at the other. Erin Thibodaux’s bright lights on the trailer faded when one of the grandmothers stepped into a spotlight to tell stories of her life. Ryan Burns’ multiple roles kept costume designer Rebecca Bailey busy with happy results. Gunshots and car horns came from sound designer Jacob Baxley. Prism’s managing director Joy Addler is the production stage manager. Caleb Long is the technical director and Peter Cocuzza was the dialect coach.

    With this splendid production of Bandera, Texas, Prism Theatre Company has set itself a high standard for its work. With thanks for this one, I look forward to the next.

    —Bob Wilcox

    Photo by Dan Steadman