THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604140052
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The Tulls Creek Players slipped, fell and could not get up.
Friday's opening night performance of ``Reunion'' - which enticed an even dozen to Currituck County High School - was an incomplete disaster.
Incomplete - meaning that the play was to run for about 90 minutes but quit in half that time.
All things considered, that was an act of mercy.
``Reunion'' has something to do with scattering the ashes of the late Jacob Starkie, currently sitting in a box on a table.
The dialogue has to do with those ashes and a will. Maybe it does. When you lose half the play, the plot is really difficult to describe.
Some of the four performers - all female - were of little help. More lines seemed to be forgotten than remembered, and in a couple cases those that were uttered and/or muttered were difficult to understand.
The saving grace for ``Reunion'' was the performance of Sandy DeHart as a soused Sarah Starkie.
We first see her as Ms. Normal. We next see her drinking, drinking and drinking.
With each gulp she becomes more and more intoxicated, her speech slurred - on purpose - her movements wonderfully wobbly.
A kudo or two, also, to Miriam George as Mrs. Booth, a woman who enjoys socializing at funerals.
Many moments on stage were funeral-quiet as members of the cast played - figuratively, not literally - ``What's My Line?''
If the Guiness Book of World Records has a category for most lines missed in a play . . . .
The group has had a decent record in the past, but during the last couple of years they have been plagued by community indifference.
The current production will not put a stop to that. Maybe next time.
You can pass on today's ``Reunion.'' MEMO: THEATER REVIEW
WHAT: ``Reunion,'' presented by the Tulls Creek Players
WHEN: 2 p.m. today
WHERE: Currituck County High School by CNB