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‘Betty’s Summer Vacation’ skewers American culture
By MILAN PAURICH
YOUNGSTOWN
Kent State graduate Craig Snay has been involved in the local community-theater scene for 18 years, mostly at Salem Community Theater, Stage Left Players and the Youngstown Playhouse. Besides an impressive r sum of directing credits (including “A Streetcar Named Desire” at SLP and “The Spitfire Grill” at SCT), Snay has acted in everything from Shakespeare (playing both Hamlet and Romeo at SLP) to Neil Simon (“Biloxi Blues”) and “A Chorus Line” (both at YP). Christopher Durang’s “Betty’s Summer Vacation” is Snay’s latest directorial outing. It’s the first show of the 2010-11 season at the Oakland Center for the Arts, and Snay recently sat down to discuss the show and why he feels simpatico with Durang’s idiosyncratic comic sensibility.
Q. What’s “Betty’s Summer Vacation” about? It’s a local premiere, and chances are that many of our readers aren’t familiar with it.
A. The show is about American society, and how we like to be voyeurs in the drama and hardships of others. The more sex and violence involved in a news story, court trial, reality show, etc., the more entertaining we tend to find it.
Q. Who’s appearing in the show, and how technically difficult a production is it?
A. We’ve got a wonderful cast. Ali Cleland plays Trudy; Cleric Costes is Keith; Quentin Duda is Buck; and there’s also Brooke Slanina as Betty, Tom Smith (Mr. Vanislaw), Gerri Sullivan (Mrs. Ziezmagraff), and Ryan Newell, Joyce Jones and Jonathan Ebell are Voices 1, 2 and 3. The show isn’t technically difficult at all since it consists of a unit set with one inside location (an East Coast beach house owned by Mrs. Siezmagraff). It’s also not exceptionally long. There are two acts and a total of seven scenes. The show should run approximately one hour and 45 minutes, including intermission.
Q. Have you always been a Durang fan? What is it about his offbeat sense of humor that appeals to you?
A. The second play I ever directed was Durang’s “Baby With the Bathwater.” The founder of Stage Left wanted to give me a chance at directing and said she had a script that was right up my alley. She was right. Durang and I tend to agree on a lot of things. There’s always some moral to be learned, or some flaw in society, religion, etc. that he’s attempting to point out and make people think (about). Yes, it’s true that Durang does tend to exaggerate those flaws to make his point, but that’s how he keeps them funny, entertaining, and makes sure that no one in the audience is left wondering, “What was that about?”
Q. As a director, what do you personally think is harder: comedy or drama?
A. They both have their own set of problems. Comedy requires specific timing when it comes to line delivery in order to get the best comedic punch possible. Drama requires a strong emotional commitment by the actors in order to make the audience feel the emotions being portrayed on stage. Durang actually requires actors to balance the two. The actors need to commit to what they’re doing and allow the comedy to come from the situation. The tendency with some directors of Durang’s work is to go for the cheap laugh which, in my opinion, is the wrong thing to do. That approach might make the audience laugh, but the realism gets lost and the audience no longer relates to the story. The point Durang is trying to make gets completely glossed over and will most likely be entirely lost. My challenge — and the challenge of my actors — is to make the show funny without losing the seriousness of the situations.