Published: Friday, December 12, 2008
Whidbey theater hits fun with 'Inspecting Carol'
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WICA photo
Annie Horton (left), Brian Plebanek, Morgan Bondelid and Kent Junge in "Inspecting Carol."
LANGLEY -- If you like your holiday shows served up saucy, sprinkled with a goodly amount of salty language and yet still as sweet as mincemeat pie, then "Inspecting Carol" is the show for you.
You'll get all that and something else when you make the trip to Whidbey Island Center for the Arts.
The show also delivers a startling surprise that's so laugh-out-loud funny and unexpected that you might find yourself using both your hands -- one to keep your sides from splitting and the other to be placed over your mouth to muffle any screaming.
"Inspecting Carol" is thoroughly entertaining and makes a trip over to Whidbey wonderfully worthwhile.
The play, written by Daniel J. Sullivan and skillfully directed by Donald Wilkins, is about a struggling professional acting company called the Soapbox Playhouse, which is dragging out that old chestnut, "A Christmas Carol," to perform one more time than they really should.
Unfortunately, in the middle of a rehearsal, the business manager tells the cast and crew they are bankrupt. As if that's not enough, the National Endowment for the Arts has denied their request for a $30,000 grant until they get the green light from one of their inspectors, who is visiting to watch the Soapbox troupe rehearse. Meanwhile, there's infighting among the cast, constant rewrites, crazy confusion and then downright hilarity when they mistake the inspector for an incompetent new actor.
"Inspecting Carol" provides all the favorite "Christmas Carol" characters: Scrooge, Bob and Mrs. Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Martha and Tiny Tim. But they have a different story to tell … very different and much funnier.
The WICA cast faces and solidly conquers the challenge of portraying actors spoofing actors. From misplaced suppositories to mistaken identities, this show is a laugh riot.
Just one observation: A show that's this funny can't be rushed. So the actors need to wait for the laughs to subside. Wait. For. It. You don't want the audience missing out any jokes.
Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
You'll get all that and something else when you make the trip to Whidbey Island Center for the Arts.
The show also delivers a startling surprise that's so laugh-out-loud funny and unexpected that you might find yourself using both your hands -- one to keep your sides from splitting and the other to be placed over your mouth to muffle any screaming.
"Inspecting Carol" is thoroughly entertaining and makes a trip over to Whidbey wonderfully worthwhile.
The play, written by Daniel J. Sullivan and skillfully directed by Donald Wilkins, is about a struggling professional acting company called the Soapbox Playhouse, which is dragging out that old chestnut, "A Christmas Carol," to perform one more time than they really should.
Unfortunately, in the middle of a rehearsal, the business manager tells the cast and crew they are bankrupt. As if that's not enough, the National Endowment for the Arts has denied their request for a $30,000 grant until they get the green light from one of their inspectors, who is visiting to watch the Soapbox troupe rehearse. Meanwhile, there's infighting among the cast, constant rewrites, crazy confusion and then downright hilarity when they mistake the inspector for an incompetent new actor.
"Inspecting Carol" provides all the favorite "Christmas Carol" characters: Scrooge, Bob and Mrs. Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Martha and Tiny Tim. But they have a different story to tell … very different and much funnier.
The WICA cast faces and solidly conquers the challenge of portraying actors spoofing actors. From misplaced suppositories to mistaken identities, this show is a laugh riot.
Just one observation: A show that's this funny can't be rushed. So the actors need to wait for the laughs to subside. Wait. For. It. You don't want the audience missing out any jokes.
Reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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