Theater Review: The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife

by John Garcia of John Garcia's The Column

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The direction, design elements, and the acting are all in sync with each other, providing a piece of theater -- that while it made me so uncomfortable at times -- it showed why I love theater so, so much.

The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife is one of the very few productions that I have ever wanted to walk out of and leave the theater. Why? Keep reading and you'll see why I had this strong urge to bolt out of the Kim Dawson Theater and out into that chilly Friday night.

Theater is an art form that reflects life. It can be displayed either in dramatic or comedic colors. Or with song and dance. But in whatever genre theater is created, it does reflect back our lives.

I am not your usual "theater critic" by any means. After all I am an actor (since the age of 7). Now whether it's wrong or right for an actor to also be a critic, well that is up to the individual to decide.

I do know at least one fact - there is no law written that this is not allowed or permitted. I do not have a journalism degree, mine is a Bachelor of Arts in drama. But what makes my point of view "unique" is that I have a long background of what it is like to be on that stage as well as the process to get to the night that starts with the words, "Places everyone!"

Finally, it is no secret that I wear my emotions and heart on my sleeve. Again, I think that comes from being an actor.

The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife is currently receiving its Southwest premiere at Uptown Players. I use the above epilogue for my review to help you understand why I'm about to reveal such personal background of myself and to hopefully make you fully understand where I am coming from within this review.

Trailer Trash Housewife by Del Shores is a play about a quiet, shy, insecure Texas housewife who is physically and mentally tortured and abused by her alcoholic SOB of a husband.

I sat in the darkness of the theater watching the play unfold, and slowly transformed from adult man to a scared, frightened, uncomfortable sixteen year old who shook in his bed in fear.

For you see, my stepfather was a raging alcoholic who would come home from work demanding my mother had dinner on the table. She too worked a day job. He wanted his meals cooked the right way. But then on weekends he would go with his drinking buddies and get rip-roaring drunk. I would lie in my bed, my heart racing each time I saw headlights flicker in the darkness. Is that his car? Is he home? Because if it is, then I knew the nightmare was about to begin.

I would hear him stumble in the darkness, and then in a deep, evil voice slurred his words as he would wake up my mother, demanding to make him a meal or to just fight. And then he would hit her. There were times where I just couldn't stand it anymore and called the cops. But my mother is a quiet, timid woman and would say nothing was wrong to the policemen. Since she never pressed charges, nothing was ever done. I could not understand why she would allow this vile excuse of a man to beat her like that.

Here I was, Mr. Popular in High School, on the Student Council, President of the Drama club, in the choir and other clubs -- and here he was dealing with this ugly, ugly home life. When I turned 17, I told my stepfather straight to his face that if he ever touched my mother again, I would kill him. I meant it. I never stood up to him before, but the rage in me was overwhelming and he knew I was going to do anything and everything to protect my mother. He never touched her again, and they divorced a year later.

All those horrific images of my childhood flashed before my eyes as I saw the same things happening to the character "Williadean" in Shores' Trailer Trash Housewife. I could feel my heart race, my eyes kept looking down at my lap -- I felt like that scared, frightened, helpless teenager all over again. It was tough emotionally to observe this production because it vividly reflected my own childhood nightmare.

Southern hometown boy Del Shores has written some outlandish, broad comedies like Daddy's Dyin' and Sordid Lives. I seriously consider Trailer Trash Housewife as the finest work that Shores has penned. He masterfully balances the comedy with the dramatic overtones beautifully. Just when it gets too tense or graphically horrific, he will calm & relax the audience with a good zinger or two. Usually his characters are over the top Southern folk, but not here. They talk, look, and act like flesh and blood Southerners we know and see each day. This aided so much in bringing the play to a level of pure realism.

Cheryl Denson paints the piece with her usual finesse of exquisite direction here. She has very wisely pulled back her actors to steer clear away from being over the top "hicks", and instead grounded them as normal, everyday people. Denson's staging and blocking has purpose and reason. The characters move emotionally, not because house stage left needs to see your face. Denson's keen eye for brilliant casting is also displayed within in this production.

Clare Floyd Devries scenic design is sublime. She has created a trailer home with its shell taken off to reveal the living room. She has on stage left a typical tacky watering hole where blue collar Texan men go drink and to get away from the wives. Jason Foster's lighting design works like a soft second skin layered and draped across Devries' set.

Music is provided live thanks to the masterful strokes of pianist Scott A. Eckert and the lush, blues vocals provided by Crystal Ramon. At first I found this live accompaniment and singer on stage bothersome because I didn't see the reasoning for it. Boy was I wrong. Shores superbly work this element into his play, and I won't spoil it for you here.

As for the cast, let's just say they are all fantastic, each one of them living and breathing within their characters. All four actors have vivid chemistry, a firm, solid grasp on their subtext, and shine beautifully within their performances.

Providing the best laughs of the night (and one of the most dramatic monologues of the evening) is Laura Warner as "LaSonia", but her name sounds like Lasagna. She is the neighbor who loves daytime talk shows, O magazine, and is addicted to the internet. Warner throughout the evening would drop these golden nuggets of comic zingers that slayed the audience in laughter. To generate even more laughter, she would have some divine, hysterical facial expressions and body language that had me howling. But then Warner delivers a painful, gut-wrenching second act monologue that had the audience (including me) sniffling and wiping tears off our faces. Warner is radiant in this production.

Melissa Jobe is terrific as cocktail waitress "Rayleen Hobbs", a woman whose fashion sense would even make Anna Nicole Smith say, "Now that's trashy!" Ms. Jobe has her raven hair sprayed & piled high on her head. Her eyes are slathered in ice blue eye shadow that you know came from the Tony Harding gaudy & grotesque makeup collection. Costumer designer Suzi Cranford has Jobe dressed in eye sore tube tops & bras, and below - extremely tight blue jean shorts that has her butt cheeks slightly creeping out! Jobe engulfs the characterization wonderfully here. She shows no shame as she tosses off her cha-cha heels and sits on the sofa, legs spread out, close to showing major qua-qua. Jobe has one of the funniest damn monologues of the night involving a previous employer. She uses her voice and facial expressions to mow down the audience in gut splitting laughter. Believe me, Jobe will make your sides hurt from laughing so hard.

T.A. Taylor is a bastard and I just wanted to wait outside in the parking lot to beat the living hell out of him. That's how believable he is as "J.D. Winkler", the racist, booze drinking, fowl mouth, bible thumping, wife beat ahole. Taylor's performance is so graphically real you could sense the audience despising him as the evening wore on. Taylor knew exactly when to raise his voice to make a point, or just which words to vomit out like searing bullets into the audience - never once missing his target. He is so damn good in this part you forget completely that it is just a play. Now that's talent folks!

Cindee Mayfield portrays the central character "Willadean". A soft, quiet, shy, insecure housewife whose husband beats her and throws her around like a sack of potatoes. Mayfield reminded me a lot of my own mother, which just devastated me observing what was happening to her on stage. Mayfield uses her body to fully expose the effects of her husband's physical and mental torture. The shakes, the nervous walk and tense face. She peeled the layers of subtext so honestly, resulting in a profound, deeply powerful performance. She had the audience an emotional wreck by the end of the night. Suffice to say, Ms. Mayfield is phenomenal.

My only problem with the production was the fight choreography/staging. It looked fake & so anti-climatic. Both actors looked a tad timid and apprehensive when it came to the violent physical fights. The "slaps" and "kicks" looked too staged and had a loud ring of "make believe". I think these staged fights actually wounded at times the brilliant emotional work that Mr. Taylor & Ms. Mayfield were displaying on stage. While it would have been tough physically, I sorely wished they had done the physical violence in a more "improv/reality" overtone than staged. That was the only hiccup that I could find in another wise first rate production.

This production is actually a departure for Uptown Players. There is always a gay character in their shows, not here. Sure, there is the gay son, but he is never on stage. All the characters are straight here. But as with practically every play or musical produced by Uptown, this one is yet another resounding artistic success.

Uptown's version of Trailer Trash Housewife gorgeously displays the outstanding talent we have here. The direction, design elements, and the acting are all in sync with each other, providing a piece of theater -- that while it made me so uncomfortable at times -- it showed why I love theater so, so much.

GRADE: A

The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife runs through March 15. Purchase tickets online or by calling 214-219-2718.

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