Sycamore Rouge will close its doors for good at the end of this month. The professional theatre company will donate its belongings to non-profit organizations in the region, and will grant its funds to a Petersburg community non-profit organization.

Sycamore Rouge had investigated and discussed opportunities with many area theatre groups to continue the work of the theatre on its stage in Old Towne Petersburg. “In the past few months, we explored various opportunities and many partners came forward; however, we ultimately realized that the long-term resources and leadership just didn’t exist to maintain what Sycamore Rouge does,” said kb saine [sic], Producing Artistic Director of Sycamore Rouge.

“While we are sad that there is not a solution in place right now, we are hopeful that other groups may look to the space, stage and theatre infrastructure that we are leaving and build a new live arts opportunity in Old Towne Petersburg,” said saine.

As Sycamore Rouge closes on July 31, saine is equally proud that the company’s remaining items and funds will be donated to important, local community-based organizations. “Over the years, we’ve amassed quite a useful stock of costumes, props and set pieces that we know will be helpful assets for our peer theatre companies. In addition, we hope that our office equipment and business assets will help strengthen other community-based non-profits,” explained saine. “Furthermore, I’m thrilled that our Board chose to ensure that all of our funds will be donated to a significant Petersburg organization,” saine added.

Sycamore Rouge was founded in 2002 and began programming in 2006. Since then, the company has produced hundreds of mainstage plays, smaller productions, classes and other events. “I’m so proud of what all Sycamore Rouge has done in the past seven years — from the contributions to the arts community to the revitalization efforts of Old Towne,” said saine. “We’ve been told so many times what an impact we’ve made on Petersburg, and how our plays and productions have made a difference to people, and that’s the best thing we could hope for,” concluded saine.

The mission of Sycamore Rouge is to use the performing arts to promote creativity, to help revitalize Petersburg’s downtown area, to strengthen the communities we serve through communal arts experiences, to stimulate the hearts and minds of the community, and to educate the community and its children.

OK, confession time again. My last contact with Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie was back in AP English in 19….. a long time ago. Sycamore Rouge’s current production has made this old classic more approachable and relevant with some effective acting, directorial and technical choices. These choices made the usually dark and depressing drama fly by.

Among the innovations; director kb Saine splits the role of younger brother Tom into two roles: an older Tom, who serves as the Narrator, played by Dean Knight and a younger Tom “back then” two decades earlier, portrayed by Deejay Gray.

The two actors bear a strong resemblance to one another which helps this device work. As Tom the Narrator says; the entire play is based on his memory. The narrator lurks in the shadows throughout the entire play, helping the audience visualize the author’s mind’s eye. Knight’s dead pan, almost stiff delivery of the facts without emotion are reminiscent of Rod Serling or Alfred Hitchcock. In opposition to Narrator Tom, Gray provides all the emotional depth to Tom. Gray displays Tom’s restlessness and longing for adventure as well as his deep seeded rage and anguish from years under his mother’s thumb.

Terry Menefee Gau brings energy, variety and empathy to that overpowering mother, Amanda Wingfield. Gau’s presence is commanding as she both strives for love and attention, yet also tries to critically help her children. Gau brings a touch of Blanche Devereau’s southern charm mixed with Mama, from the old Carol Burnett show’s caustic abrasiveness. Amanda is intelligent and articulate and never at a loss for words, however numerous and biting they may be. However, Gau manages to also bring through Amanda’s softer side, her love behind her correctiveness and her pain and loneliness behind her anger and her tears.

McLean Jesse brings nervous energy and simple childlike innocence to daughter Laura. Laura is crippled both physically and emotionally and, much like her collection of glass figurines (her glass menagerie) is fragile and just one move away from being broken. Jesse carries Laura’s nervousness and emotional fragility well, but at times loses her physical disability. This could be in part because of the smallness of the stage, or it could be a directorial choice to see Laura as her “gentleman caller” Jim sees her; with the physical disability unnoticeable, simply amplified in Laura’s own mind. Jesse’s one other flaw, as my guest for the show, Morgan, pointed out, is that she does at time rely too much on a “sing-songy” style of dialog which could use some more variation.

Matt Bloch rounds out the cast as Jim, the gentleman caller and Tom’s High School friend and current co-worker. He is suave and calm as opposed to Laura’s social awkwardness. His empathy for Laura help guide the audience to feel the same way for her.

The set, the theater and even the city of Petersburg are all perfect for the 1930’s St. Louis apartment; cramped yet full of memories of better days gone by in the Old South. A curio cabinet/window holds a giant screen with changing messages controlled by Narrator Tom stylized like a 1920’s silent movie narration.

The furnishings of Keith Saine’s multi-level step up set of a parlor, dining room and fire escape correctly give off the atmosphere of the play. As Narrator Tom points out, E. Tonry Lathroum’s lights are appropriately dimly lit to give the feeling of shaded memories. There are also nice touches with sunlight and candlelight.

McLean Jesse doubled as Costume Designer and provided fitting wardrobe to the characters and period (although one of young Tom’s shirts irked me as looking like a bowling shirt!)

Director Saine keeps the dialog crisp and flowing and the actors keep the energy high which keeps the audience entranced with this masterful emotional presentation.

Photo Gallery

Dean Knight (left, sitting) as the older Tom and Deejay Gray (right, standing) as the younger Tom	Dean Knight as the older Tom, McLean Jesse as Laura, Deejay Gray as (younger) Tom, and Terry Menefee Gau as Amanda
McLean Jesse as Laura, Deejay Gray as Tom, and Terry Menefee Gau as Amanda

Photos by Dave White

The Cast

• Amanda: Terry Menefee Gau
• Laura: McLean Jesse
• Tom (then) Deejay Gray
• Tom (now) Dean Knight
• Jim: Matt Bloch

The Crew

• Director: kb Saine
• Stage Manager: Kelsey Cordrey
• Set Designer: Keith Saine
• Lighting Design: E. Tonry Lathroum
• Costume Design: McLean Jesse

Disclaimer: Sycamore Rouge provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

I had thought I was not going to be able to catch any more of the entries in the Acts of Faith Festival, but based on several recommendations, I squeezed in TheatreLAB’s production of Riding the Bull. I am glad that I did.

This play has it all — comedy, drama, allegory, symbolism and pathos. It even had a veritable who’s who in Richmond’s actors, directors and producers in attendance to show their support (apparently I wasn’t the only one to hear about it through word of mouth).

Gaylord “GL” Mitchell (Deejay Gray) is a rodeo clown in Godsburg, Texas. He tries to be a good man and a good Catholic, but he faces many temptations in his life, including a crazy mother and an absent father. He especially has problems with lust and hatred of fat people. Of course, he ends up falling for the fattest woman he knows, Lyza Mary (Maggie Bavalack). She is like a younger and “larger” Vicky Lawrence in “Mama’s Family.” Acerbic, yet still likeable and laughable.

The two end up having passionate, lustful sex — with one problem. Every time they make love, Lyza calls out another man’s name. At first, GL thinks they are the names of Lyza’s other boyfriends, but eventually he figures out that she is some how calling out the names of men who are about the win big sporting events. The two devise a gambling scheme where they can rake in a small fortune. However, as in life, enough is never enough and GL keeps wanting more.

The slow emotional transition of the two characters in the play is riveting. GL starts out as a sweet, innocent, warm and engaging southern hick — a cross between Gomer Pyle and Jimmy Chance on “Raising Hope.” Lyza begins as a slovenly, self-loathing atheist, who eats an entire pie in one sitting in the first scene. Act 1 is pure comedy, with Gray and Bavalack masterfully handling the pair’s banter, dead-pan humor and one liners. In the second act, everything changes. GL becomes mean and hateful and selfish, whereas Lyza becomes the empathetic character, and even “finds God” and believes her predictions are tied to visions from God.

My companion for the evening, Katie, pointed out that through the play she saw a new way to “believe.” Tactile things like money, notoriety, and sex don’t compare to what we believe, or desperately want to believe.

Playwright August Schulenburg wonderfully twists the story line, eventually punctuating the change in the two characters by having Lyza take over the narration that GL had been supplying throughout the show. Without revealing too much, the laughs are over by the end of Act 2, as GL’s innocence turns to selfishness and rage, and Lyza’s self loathing turns to self-realization and heartache. Both Gray and Bavalack are believable and raw in their emotions and vulnerability. A fight scene is realistic and intense (and again, I won’t spoil the ending). Bavalack’s anguished deep sobs are heart-rending.

Schulenburg also uses many interpretations to the “bull” in Riding the Bull. Does it refer to GL and Lyza’s sexual relationship? Does it stand for GL’s job as a rodeo clown, where others “ride the bull.” Is it a reference to Lyza’s bull “Suarte” which is Spanish for destiny or luck? Is it all the above?

Director Sarah Roquemore used the stage well. At the production on Tuesday at Gallery 5, she made good use of a small space to keep the action moving, varied and interesting. With the help of Set Designer McLean Jesse, the stage is simply adorned with bales of hay and a few saw horses which are moved and used as tables, chairs, cars, windows, etc., creating the essence of each scene. Jesse doubled as costumer, and visually enhanced the changes in the two characters between acts 1 and 2 with perfectly varied costumes, make-up and hair styles.

Among the nice touches were the singing duo of Brad Tuggle and Rebecca Muhleman who serenaded the audience with country music until the show started.

I always try to find something positive and some constructive criticism for each show, but Riding the Bull makes it hard to find fault. Bavalack does a fine Elvis impression earlier in the play, but seems to lose it at the emotional climax of the play. Gray is perfect with his facial expressions and movements as the “good” GL in Act 1, but could develop more “evil” in his expressions and mannerisms in Act 2.

Beyond that, all I can do is encourage you to catch the extended run of Riding the Bull closing this Saturday night at Sycamore Rouge. Trust me, the word of mouth is right on this one!

Director’s Note

Dear friends,

Thank you for supporting TheatreLAB and joining us for our first of hopefully many acts of Faith shows. When I first read August Schulenburg’s Riding the Bull a few years ago, I was smitten. It was quirky, touching, and, most importantly, it was about everything I love. Jesus, Elvis, and even the Lone Star State.

My grandparents own several acres of land in East Texas. I’ve only been there once when I was very young, but I have this vivid memory of the drive to “the farm” from their house outside of Houston. I remember passing by dilapidated farms and ramshackle fences, cud-chewing cows, rusted oil wells, and dusty, empty roads for what seemed like days. And every 25, 50 miles or so, there’d be an old church, a few houses, maybe a diner or two.

I imagine Godsburg as one of these towns. Tiny and slow, sepia-toned, where God and Texas are all anyone could ever need to know of the world.

Yet the story told here transcends its small town limits. In talking about this script, I once referred to it as a southern morality play, and I do still think an argument can be made to that effect. But as these talented actors have brought flesh and blood to Lyza and GL, I’ve realized that this story is so much more than a simple Sunday school lesson. This is a story of Juxtaposition. It’s a story of loss and love; of grace and damnation; of denial and belief. It’s hilarious and heartbreaking, beautiful and terrifying, edgy and earnest. In short, it’s human.

There couldn’t be a better show for TheatreLAB to produce for Acts of Faith. We are so proud to be a part of this festival and to premiere this phenomenally rich script in Richmond.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the bull.

Sarah Roquemore

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by TheatreLAB

The Cast

• GL Mitchell: Deejay Gray
• Lyza Mary: Maggie Bavalack

The Crew

• Director: Sarah Roquemore
• Stage Manager: Addie Pawlick
• Production Manager: Theresa Mantiply
• Costume and Set Designer: McLean Jesse
• Producers, Lighting and Sound Design: Matt Shofner and Maggie Roop
• Production Assistant: Michael Musatow
• Fight Choreographer: Axle Burtness
• Poster Design: Adam Darland
• Promotional Videography: Annie Colpitts
• Photographer: Ben Hill

Disclaimer: TheatreLAB provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.