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Bad is good in ‘Farndale Avenue’
By ERIC MCCREA
Bad acting has long been the bane of community theater, but a play that relies on it? Well, that would be the fun part of “The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Towns-Women’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of Macbeth.”
The long title aside, “Farndale Avenue” is a quick romp through a much-abridged version of the Bard’s cursed show, most often referred to by actors as the Scottish play, but performed by severely under-prepared and subpar actors.
The Victorian Players take this very tongue-in-cheek play, with a lot of insider thespian jokes, and fall over themselves on their way to the curtain call.
Before the play begins, we meet Mrs. Reece in the lobby, played by Heleena Huncik. She greets the audience, in character, as if you’re in Farndale instead of Youngstown.
Also, you might notice an overdressed man in the audience. That would be Nathan Skaggs, playing George Peach, or Plum, or Papaya, or whatever. While Mrs. Reese tells us to turn off our cellphones, we meet Henry (Stephen Kountz), the backstage manager, who must fill in for the absent Lady Macbeth.
As soon as the curtain goes up on ‘Macbeth,’ things begin to unravel. It is a cursed show, after all. The bad acting is apparent from the start, but we also see set pieces falling, actors reading lines from pieces of paper, their arms, and even their cellphones. Props and “special effects” are bungled, and the characters are blatantly displeased.
Katherine Skaggs was somewhat one-note as Thelma/Macbeth/Ross. She ranted quite a bit and was the most noticeably displeased with the situation the show was in. Thelma’s anger overshadowed any attempt there was at being Macbeth.
Notable Vic regular Kountz was featured prominently in this play as the guy who doesn’t want to be there. He had a few breaks in character, but that was completely acceptable in this show. It fit perfectly, actually. While the character is supposed to be lost, Kountz’s performance becomes sloppy at times. This issue was common for most of the cast, but easy to forgive in this premise.
Despite the chaos in the script, a few actors managed to be standouts. Minnie, played by Marisa Keshock, was hilarious doing Lady Macduff’s son’s death scene.
Monica Beasley-Martin seemed to be trying too hard to be bad at acting, but she had some great moments. She nailed the awkwardness of having to read while on stage.
Elizabeth Mulichak easily delivered the most personality as Dawn. Her delivery, especially offstage, was sidesplitting. Teresa Evans was amazing as the accident-prone Kate. Some of her “accidents” were weak toward the end, but the idea was funny.
Huncik was pretty one-dimensional as Mrs. Reece, but that was part of her charm. She was great at playing on the fly, doing the most interaction with the audience.
The script has a few issues as well. For instance, it’s not really made clear why Mr. Peach is there to begin with, and a lot of it relies on the audience being familiar with backstage culture. But overall, it’s funny and brief.
“Farndale Avenue’s Macbeth” runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Victorian Players, 702 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown. For reservations, call 330-746-5455.