Voices from beyond

By KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
12/2/2005

'Spoon River Anthology' powered by the triumphs, tragedies of small-town lives



A man comes clean about his mother's death, a judge reveals his Napolean complex and a local housewife becomes fed up with being blamed for everything.

The past residents of a small town have little to lose in death, and they share their complete confidence with an audience at Heller Theatre this weekend in "Spoon River Anthology," a theatrical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters' serial work from 1914-15.

The Round the Bend Players will present the musical play featuring the voices of residents from a small town as a reader's theater experience.

"Spoon River" director Susan Webb said she is more than pleasantly surprised at her first experience staging an on-book piece.

The troupe was created to give area seniors more opportunities to perform and flex their acting muscles, she said.
Actors rehearse the
"Spoon River Anthology."
MICHAEL WYKE/
Tulsa World
"Let's face it. You get older and it gets harder to remember acting lines, but you still may have some acting chops," Webb said.

Her 12-member cast will provide the lyrical voices of some 60 different characters laid to rest in the town cemetary, but who tell thier lives in Masters' concise, yet enveloping free verse -- epitaphs written by those they are meant to commemorate.

What they tell, Webb said, can be humorous, morose and even cynical, but it's always "realistic and most often sincere."

Such honesty is magnified when performers lend their wisdom and insight into the performance, even in the absence of action.

"It gives new meaning to the phrase, 'What have I got to lose,' and wouldn't we all like that?" said Webb.

The cast includes William Blake, Rita Boyle, Noel Confer, Ron Friedberg, Alice Froeschle, Marilyn Gates, David Gray, Ed Ladner, Mike McVey, Jill Morris, Larry Ravenscroft and Sue Sinor.

The stage manager is Sherry Zyskowski. Frank Gallagher is the technical director.

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