Review: EXCURSION FARE is a Dark, Fun Ride at Carrollwood Players Theatre

In a train depot beautifully created and dressed by Chelsie Camaro Smith and props by Shirley Overton, not a detail is missed - from the ornate corners on the ticket booth to the weathered wood and grey concrete interior to the vintage magazines, telephones and stored luggage. Heather Cleveland's costumes add to the feel that the place looks like something that time passed over.

And perhaps it has. This way station for the hesitant houses souls unable to make the transition from life to the afterlife, whichever direction the train may go.

Expertly directed by Thomas Pahl, in Excursion Fare, a dark, philosophical comedy on stage at Carrollwood Players Theatre, everyone is waiting for the train, but no one dares get on. The stationmaster dispenses wisdom as well as two types of tea - rosehip and peppermint. Nothing stronger in this station. Every day - same routine. Jimmy bellows at stationmaster for his messages, the judge and Bierce play games, Amelia reads a magazine, and Michael takes notes.

But no one seems to mind.... until the train actually arrives. Why do the fares do everything in their power to hide from its arrival?

Props to sound and light designers Thomas and Joshua Eberhart and light and sound techs Chris McDermott and Britt Noland. The train arrival special effects were wonderfully created.

Slowly the audience is let in on the surprise.

Constantine Kyriakou shines on the Carrollwood stage as former Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa barking at the never frazzled, even-keel stationmaster Henry played beautifully by Andrew Brunner.

Jim Johnson and a silver-haired Eric Misener are exceptionally matched as sleazy Judge Joe Crater who disappeared during a corruption investigation and died flagrante delicto and bully Ambrose Bierce, a loud-mouthed, misogynistic journalist who disappeared in Mexico. The men have an odd pension for "accidentally" injuring the other, challenging each other and lightly tormenting the new arrivals.

The equally-talented Kennedi Showerman as aviator Amelia Earhart and Zach "Hippie" Griswold as anthropologist/expeditionist Michael Rockefeller round out the regular faces in the depot. The couple appears enamored and completely uninterested in changing their daily routine and taking a final train ride.

There are also fictional characters. Shane Steele as college writing professor Bookman doesn't understand where he is and how he is expected to ride a train without a ticket. Bookman regrets the life he led and like the character he played, watching Shane on stage - hand gestures and facial expressions - truly was like watching a movie.

"Everyone has a ticket - just look," the stationmaster finally assures his bewildered fare, after the judge has fun at Bookman's expense.

A woeful dental hygiene student and caretaker played by Elsie Mendez sits in the corner dabbing her eyes, yet despite being small against the judge's towering frame, is not afraid to take him head-on. Her monologue accounting for her death was heartbreaking and sincere. "I died as I lived. No one even noticed."

A desperate Martin Bormann, Kenneth Grace in the vilest of roles, makes a frigid and believable appearance. Despite the character, Martin adds an odd bit of levity to the production.

But it was prospector Stubbs who stole the show.

Brian McCreight slid into the role as if he'd actually been part of the Gold Rush. The only thing missing from his exceptional performance was a spat of tobacky.

This play is for someone looking for something other than just a laugh - though there are those too - but this is a thinking man's/woman's play. Through the brilliant monologue of the stationmaster, author Dennis Smith wants the audience to know that everyone is accountable for his actions in life. Some pay in advance, some pay in stages, and others wait until the station to begin making overdue payment.

When the professor challenges the judge to play a game, the truth is finally revealed.

Do the seven fares continue a tedious, somber existence or does one or all turn in a ticket and see what fate has in store?

Buy a ticket to Excursion Fare at Carrollwood Players to see just how the story plays out.

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