Theater Review: A Texas Romance

by Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

It is hard to write a review that will hold a reader’s attention when everything in a show is flawless. I will attempt to do so here.

One Thirty Productions, a company that is new to the Dallas theatre scene is closing out their first season with an impeccable production of the comedy A Texas Romance. This funny play is about a middle-aged widow, Daisy, who is pursued by a very young man, Garland. Daisy’s older sister Doris disapproves of this impending romance. Doris happens to be in a stagnant marriage and is saddled by a husband who is slowly dying of tuberculosis. The year is 1928 and while Daisy is more modern in her way of thinking she finds herself falling for the overly courteous and traditional Garland. She just wants to “fornicate” with the young stud, whereas he’s more interested in calling on her and wooing her. There is nothing necessarily groundbreaking about the plot of the play, for there have been many May-December romances in plays, though in this case it’s more like March-August. What playwright Ellsworth Schave has done is given us a trio of characters who view the unusual nature of the relationship with such honesty and sincerity. This open eyed view of the improbability and difficulties of having this kind of relationship are dealt with honesty and truth. In the process, the playwright continuously make us laugh. We truly grow to love the three characters.

Larry Randolph, the director, has staged this with the right level of realism. It would be easy to make the comedy over the top, but he grounds it. At one point I began to question the use of the door screen that perpetually was opening and shutting. The play takes place on the outside porch and front garden of the house – a set that is wonderfully realized. This screen door seemed to be in the way at first but as the play progressed I realized that by having the actors go through it, at times with some difficulty, this screen door became a metaphor between the known – inside the house - and the unknown – the outside. The metaphorical struggle was heightened by Garland’s reluctance to enter the house near the end of the play. He had just been in the house and had left it but was hesitant to step back in. He did not want to confront the sisters’ past, he was more comfortable in the ambivalence of the unknown. Any director that can turn a screen door into such an insightful symbol gets a standing ovation in my book. What made it special was that this symbolism wasn’t obvious, he didn’t clunk us on the head with it. He put it out there for those of us who cared to see it. This play was full of glorious moments like these.

Gene Raye Price plays the older sister Doris. As many people know, she’s one of our most talented actors around. At one point she’s asked how she’d feel if her husband were to pass away. The look she gives said it all: it’d be so much easier, but no I’m not supposed to want THAT. She's so inhabited I felt as if I were watching Doris on stage and not someone acting. This could be said of the other two performers.

The sensational Mary-Margaret Pyeatt plays the wooed woman Daisy. After having been in a loveless marriage she is flattered and floored that such a young man is paying attention to him. She wants to jump his bones. She could easily have been played as a one note tramp of a woman, but Ms. Pyeatt gives her such a texture, such believability, we don’t judge her harshly. She’s able to make her character completely sympathetic and we find ourselves rooting for her: that she gets her cake and eats it too. Ms. Pyeatt’s performance is simply divine, but then again this is Ms. Pyeatt, has she ever done a role just so-so? I don’t think she’s capable of it.

Tristan Vaughan rounds out the trio as Garland. He is astounding. There was not a false moment in his performance. He so loved Daisy, and he was so youthful and hopeful one couldn’t help but see why Daisy fell in love with him. His idealism come crashing into the reality of the impossible nature of the situation, and his response is immature, as it should be. He’s so honest in his portrayal I felt as if I was eavesdropping on this poor young man’s trials. This said, he was able to give what could be an overly serious character such humor that he made Garland a palpable living person on the stage. This is perhaps the best performance I’ve seen all year by a male actor. In truth, the trio gave some of the strongest performances I’ve seen in quite some time.

If I have to point out a flaw in this production it is this: I never wanted it to end. This is a glorious production of a wonderful play.

Tickets are available online or by calling 214-532-1709.