BWW Reviews: TAPHOUSE at The Ballard Underground

The old adage "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," would be an ideal tagline for local playwright Kiki Penoyer's TAPHOUSE, an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's THREE SISTERS. Set in a Bellingham beer bar run by Nellie Coleman (Karen Jo Fairbrook) and her employees Masha Collins (Britt Hobson) and Emmaline Carpenter (Corrine Marie), the play is a thoughtful reworking of its Russian progenitor. Much happens during the course of it, and yet nothing really happens...a bit like WAITING FOR GODOT or OUR TOWN, though not quite in the absurdist or sentimental veins of those particular shows.

At the core of the drama are the three "sisters"...as Nellie, Karen Jo Fairbrook is the proprietor of Coleman's Taphouse, making sure everyone is served whatever they want, so long as it's beer. With 46 years invested in the place, she is wisecracking, but empathetic.

As Masha, Britt Hobson is at turns focused and flighty in her efforts to leave Bellingham forever. Her eyes are set on California, but her soul hasn't quite bought into the dream. She is the most universal of the characters, for who among us has not been in the position of wanting change, yet being paralyzed in bringing it about?

Corrine Marie's Emmaline may seem the most delicate of the three, but in the end, she is the one to risk comfortable, mundane existence for chance.

The three work well together and are convincing in their love, support and compassion for one another.

In addition to serving beer and waiting tables, Masha is a singer/songwriter, and sings a few of her heartfelt compositions during the course of the play. Her music collaborator is Felix Grippe (Justin Johns), a nebbish college student who expects to move to California with Masha when she goes. Felix professes to be enamored of a 19-year old girl named Lindzey Wash (Alysha Curry), and their relationship provides a good deal of the show's humor, from her questionable couture to her social media mania.

As Russian barfly and Taphouse regular Harrison Limonov, Michael Ramquist dispenses earthy wisdom with every gulp of beer, gently chiding Masha for her dream of flight...he is both lovable and insufferable.

Rooster Collins (Tyler Elwell) is Masha's younger brother, a soldier recently returned from Iraq with his childhood friend Claude Brahms (Neil Hobson). They have brought with them a friend from the service, Liam Lincoln (Chris Trover). Rooster's boisterous nature belies the trauma experienced overseas until an incident in the bar brings it explosively to the surface.

Claude left Bellingham with expectations about Emmaline, and his return and their relationship serves as one of the dramatic focal points of the piece. Another dramatic plotline is Masha and Liam's attraction to one another, and the complications that ensue since both are married.

Rounding out the ensemble is Masha's husband, Roger White (Tom Stewart), a man who despite Masha's indifference, can't help but love her.

Director Jennifer Nöel Klouse has assembled a fine cast, and everyone has moments in which they shine...too many to catalogue in this review, I'm afraid. Personal favorite performances include Britt Hobson as maddeningly indecisive Masha and Chris Trover as soul-searching poet Liam Lincoln.

Production elements are solid, from Jessica Pickett's set design (although the entrance to the bar could do with a little bracing) to Brandy A. Beauchamp's costume design, Charlie Herzog's lighting, Kuba Bednarek's sound design and Gavin McLean's fight choreography.

Truly, my only criticism of the show would be that the pathos is laid on rather thick in Act II...I can think of one drunken monologue about life wasted that went on a bit too long, and a barroom brawl that careened dangerously toward melodrama.

That said, it is a funny, frustrating, familiar and ultimately moving piece, more than worthy of an audience.

TAPHOUSE plays Thursday through Saturday, June 5th to 20th, 7:30 p.m. at The Ballard Underground Theater. Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets.com

Photo credit: Brandy A. Beauchamp

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