Review: 10TH ANNUAL LABUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL at St. Louis Actors' Studio

The St. Louis Actors’ Studio opened their 10th Annual LaBute New Theater Festival this weekend at The Gaslight Theater in Midtown St. Louis. The program consists of five one act plays. Festival namesake Neil LaBute penned “Who’s on First” a baseball story with character names that are an homage to the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The other one acts, in the order presented, are “Grief & Woe” by Paul Bowman, “Cage” by Barbara Blatner, “Walrus” by Brandt Adams, and “Love in the Time of Nothing,” by Jayne Hannah. Kristi Gunther directs “Cage,” “Walrus,” and “Who’s on First,” and the other two plays are directed by Spencer Sickmann.

The best play of the festival is Jayne Hannah’s “Love in the Time of Nothing.” Hannah has written a heartbreaking story about losing a beloved spouse to Alzheimer's disease. Actors Greg Hunsaker (David) and Jane Paradise (Julieanna) break the fourth wall with a unique and highly effective storytelling convention. Hunsaker and Paradise are exceptionally effective at conveying the patient’s journey and the toll it takes on his wife. Hannah’s script walks the audience through the couple’s devastating five-year battle with the memory robbing disease. Her short play is sobering. She says more in 25-minutes than most full-length plays do in two hours.

 In LaBute’s “Who’s on First,” an over-the-top parent bribes his child’s baseball coach to ensure his unathletic child won’t be riding the pine. Anthony Wininger (Costello) and Chuck Winning’s (Abbott) authentic portrayals as the parent and coach will resonate with anyone who’s child has played competitive sports. It is an cynical look at the steps helicopter parents take to ensure their child is given preferential treatment.

Paul Bowman’s “Grief & Woe” is a satirical look at the temptation in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, played by Tyler Crandall and Lorelei Frank, cannot seem to get along. Their constant bickering and frustration with each other gives Lou, played cheekily by Chuck Winning, fertile ground to tempt the couple. Winning was alluring as the sexy devil, both in-and-out of drag, seducing them both. Greg Hunsaker rounded out the cast as Adam and Eve’s creator, Mr. G-.

The remaining two plays “Walrus” and “Cage” were slickly staged and well-acted, but their scripts are less engaging than the other three. Brandt Adams’ “Walrus” examined how different species in the animal world relate to one another with an underlying theme of biases based on bigotry. Greg Hunsaker (Mike – The Polar Bear,) Tyler Crandall (The Manatee), and Anthony Wininger (The Walrus) all threw themselves fearlessly into the animal alter egos.

“Cage” was the least entertaining of the five entries. Barbara Blatner’s play analyzed the strained relationship between a parent and child. Jane Paradise and Lorelei Frank played the mother and daughter who don’t see eye to eye. Blatner’s narrative crawled along at a snail's pace and lacked a satisfying conclusion.

The 10th Annual LaBute New Theatre Festival runs through July 28th at The Gaslight Theater. The inclusion of Jayne Hannah’s “Love in the Time of Nothing” makes this year’s festival a can’t miss event. Her inspirational love story will tug at your heartstrings and illustrates how a well-constructed script can tell a story in minutes. More information on St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s LaBute New Theater Festival can be found at stlas.org

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Huber

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