#rob clark

Arcana #1 Signed by T.S. Wells and Rob Clark (January 1995) by Wells and Clark

Last night Fairhope’s Theatre 98 opened the third production of their 2012 season, “Regrets Only” by Paul Rudnick.

This topical comedy stars Rob Clark as Hank Hadley, a New York Fashion designer; Brenda Hedstrom as his best friend, a socialite, Tibby; Michael Bankston as Jack, her lawyer husband; Cindy J Huggins as Spencer, their newly engaged daughter; Teri Odell as Tibby’s five-timed married mother; and Becky Thornton as Myra, a sassy maid as troublesome and truth-telling as of any of Moliere’s famously sassy, trouble making maidservants.

Timothy Guy directed the production. Mr. Guy also designed the stylish New York apartment set. Gordon and Pat Cooper dressed the apartment as stylishly as it was designed. And Michelle Patton and Becky Thornton’s costumes stylishly compliment both set and furnishings.

Theatre 98 is to be commended for the choice of this play. The argument at the center of it is more topical now than could have been predicted when the decision to produce it was made. It was a brave choice then, perhaps even more so now. And it was wise to put it in the hands of a mature and seasoned director. Everything is in place and every detail thought through; the result is that nothing happens to pull you out of the play. The i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed (cross-dressed, even). And, most importantly, the cast seems to really trust the text and each other. No amount of last minute theater magic can make all that happen. A sure and confident hand is evident. Every working director, and anyone who is involved in the hiring of directors in the greater Mobile area, needs to see this production. This is what well directed community theater looks like.

Besides looking fantastic, the production moves at a quick pace– each act runs under an hour. And it is funny; the tone stays light, with the laughs coming regularly and being earned honestly, from character and situation– not just because a line is well-written or intrinsically funny. There is a message, of tolerance, acceptance, and simple civil justice, but the audience is never brow-beat with it.

This is largely due to Rob Clark at the center of the play as Hank Hadley, a character more fifth business than protagonist. Mr. Clark personifies the message of the play without relying on the usual signifiers we have come to expect from the stock gay best friend. Instead he plays it simply, earnestly, walking as honestly as an actor can in another man’s shoes. Hank Hadley may be the playwright’s mouthpiece, but Rob Clark’s courage to find ‘Hank Hadley’ in himself is the embodiment of that message. This is how change happens.

The rest of the cast deserves equal praise– they are just as committed to this play and their characters as Mr. Clark. Teri Odell’s mother/mother-in-law/grandmother becomes significantly more interesting after the five ex-husbands bomb drops. Michael Bankston easily persuades as a loving husband and father – and a lawyer just doing his job. Cindy J. Huggins as the nervous bride, Spencer, nicely plays the privileged-but-basically-ok-younger person trope, particularly when she can’t get her fiance on the phone. Becky Thornton’s Myra, the maid, darts in and out of the first act, tossing commentary and zingers randomly to and fro; in the second act the character drops the silly-sally play acting, which allows Ms. Thornton to land her points with even more precision. And Brenda Hedstrom’s Tibby navigates the gravitational pull of what all the other characters need her to be, mother, wife, employer, best friend, to emerge as all those things and her own woman, too– and she does it with grace, warmth, charm, and a healthy comedic instinct.

This is must see community theater. (A)

The production continues its run tonight and the rest of this weekend and the next (July 27, 28, 29 & August 1-5).

Theatre 98, Morphy & Church Street, Fairhope, Alabama, 251-928-4366  www.theatre98.org