Political theater, and especially political theater with a strong social message, can turn into a polemic faster than Lou Brock stealing a base, and then it tends to become heavy and, frankly, boring. So it's a tribute to Joan Lipkin and the cast of "The State of Marriage," that they mostly avoid the deadly pothole. Her play, making a strong case for same-sex marriage with a good leavening of humor, opened last night at the Regional Arts Commission Theater, to run through June 20.
The play, 90 minutes without intermission, is a joint production of Lipkin's That Uppity Theatre Company, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the St. Louis Actors Studio.
Lipkin, as is her wont, wrote and directed, with JT Ricroft as assistant director and choreographer. It's based on the experiences shared by some of the St. Louisans who joined an early spring bus trip from St. Louis to Iowa, where same sex marriage is legal, though Missouri does not recognize it. In addition, there are tales of the inequality before the law that same sex couples face, like being turned away while trying to visit a same sex partner in a hospital or being ineligible for Social Security or VA benefits.
Mike Van Allen and Laura Coppinger are a straight couple getting married; Keith Thompson and James Slover, and Sally Eaton and Lynda Levy Clark are a pair of homosexual couples trying to do the same thing. Alice Kinsella is a rabbi who celebrates the Coppinger-Van Allen nuptials.
The trio of Leon Braxton, better known as Dieta Pepsi, Theresa Masters and Sara Hamilton are delightful as bridesmaids, singing, clowning and dancing up a storm, including Masters doing a brief Hora. Dancing honors go to Troy Turnipseed, who also stands out as the television announcer hosting a game show known as the Leviticus Limbo. Carl Overby and Chris Brenner round out the cast. Deborah Sharn added a couple of cabaret numbers; local singers will perform each night; she's the first.
With a performing area is only slightly wider than a fashion show runway, and the audience on three sides, things are a little tight, but the acoustics have been improved greatly since the last time I saw a show at RAC. Patrick Huber is credited with set design, so let's applaud him for a wonderful, magical bus that travels to Iowa with Braxton as the driver and a miniature Marge Simpson as–well, if it were a ship, she'd be a bowsprit, so we'll call her a bussprit. Angela Grewe and Lipkin designed costumes, but the highlight of that decor was a collection of some of the ugliest bridesmaids' dresses to ever see the light of day hanging on the walls of the theater. The acting is variable, but earnest because the performers, like many people, believe in the correctness of the demand for sexual equality. They're trying to make a serious point in the midst of satire and humor–and most of the time, they make it.
"The State of Marriage," produced by That Uppity Theatre Company and the St. Louis Actors' Theatre, through June 20 at the Regional Arts Commission Theater
–Joe
Comments
One response
The bus was designed and built by Elisa Sugar, a local artist with a studio in Midtown.