“Just who is that mystery man? What is my name, who are you, why am I here?”
These are questions in the Sunflower Troupe’s production of two one-act comedies, “The Man of Infinite Sadness” by Brian Tanen and “The Actor’s Nightmare” by Christopher Durang.
“The Man of Infinite Sadness” is a story of blurred reality, projected desires and conflicting emotions, all of which carry two women on a roller-coaster ride of imaginative and often humorous daydreams.
In “The Actor’s Nightmare,” the main character is faced with a performer’s consuming anxiety.
“I assume that most people who are in theater, or even have just dabbled in it may have had these ‘actors’ nightmares’ – you dream that you have to go onstage, but for some reason you’ve never attended rehearsal, and you don’t know a single line,” Durang says.
And so it goes for the character George Spelvin as he finds himself on stage with no idea where he is or how he got there and is confronted by a stage manager and actors that assume he knows who he is and why he is there. Hilarity ensues as the nightmare progresses.
The cast includes veteran Troupe members Steven Free, Jinx Citrine, Silvia Fleitz, Terri Helm, Caro Gomez, Daymeon Smith and understudies Evelyn Caciagli and Rebecca Story. They are joined by newcomers Gene Reininger, Molly Christensen and Abraham Proffitt. All are under the direction of Hattie Miller, who has spent much of her life on stage and has appeared in many local shows in Durango and at the Fort Lewis Theater. Recently she played Sally in the Sunflower Troupe’s production of “Drinking Habits” last May.
Performances are at the Sunflower Theatre at 8 E. Main St. on Friday and Saturday, May 12 and 13, at 7 p.m. The show will run again the following Friday and Saturday, May 19 and 20 at 7 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, May 21.
For tickets go to www.sunflowertheatre.org.
The Sunflower Troupe is a volunteer-run, community theater group in Cortez. The Sunflower Theatre is a program of Community Radio Project Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is also the licensee for KSJD Community Radio. KSJD is a public radio service serving the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, including the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Navajo Nation.
Kim Welty is head of the steering committee for the Sunflower Troupe. She can be reached at sunflowersteering@gmail.com.
