Leave it to playwright Del Shores to dish up folks dealing with death, adultery, homophobia, shotguns, crossdressing, a mental institution and a funeral. The result: laughs as familiar as the tuna casserole brought to the grieving family. Sordid Lives opened Friday night at Theatre Alliance to a packed and happy house.
Laughs are inevitable in this return engagement for a wacky look at one Texas family whose members include: a gay grandson, a crossdressing son, a daughter who's a prude, another daughter who totes a pistol, and a sister who's trying to quit smoking. We meet them after the family matriarch died by hitting her head on the sink in a local motel when she tripped over the wooden legs of her lover who happens to be the husband of one of her daughter's best friends.
In the small town of Winters, Texas, the laughs are big. Sissy dispenses valium to handle just about anything. Latrelle will not let her mother be buried in her favorite mink stole in the middle of summer. "Brother Boy" has been Tammy Wynette so long we hope he never changes.
There's a lot of heart in these Texas characters. Homophobia is present, but ultimately, the story is about giving up judgment and denial for the love that was there all along.
Sordid Lives was a big hit when the Theatre Alliance presented it in 2006, and director Jamie Lawson makes sure there's no weak acting in this honky-tonk reprise. A few actors stand out.
Cheryl Roberts as the proper sister, Latrelle, may be a prude, but we love her because we feel her struggle to deny that her son is gay. She shows us how to embrace truth.
April Meacham-Linscott in her return role as Sissy is a hoot as the woman who picked the wrong week to stop smoking.
Finally, Gray Smith as "Brother Boy" has outdone his previous flamboyant, cross-dressing characters. As Tammy Wynette, he's as real as the country lyrics she made famous. More so, he's so tender that we want people to
just leave him alone and bring him home for his mama's funeral.
Put it all together, and you've got laughs, and an evening that flies to a high-kicking conclusion.
■ The Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance presents Sordid Lives at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 24-27 and July 1-3 and at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 27, and at 2 p.m., Sunday, June 28 at the theater, 1047 Northwest Blvd. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors/students. Call 336-723-7777.
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