Courtesy of 2nd Star Productions
Wendell Holland (left), Marty Hayes (center) and Jerry Gietka star in ‘Coup d'Etat,' one of three one-act plays that open this weekend.
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Usually when Charles W. Maloney is involved in a 2nd Star Production play, he's the director giving orders to other people, but not this week. Now he's the star struggling to learn his lines and get ready for opening night, which is Friday.
"A man came to the shop TO-DAY," Maloney said during a Monday rehearsal.
"You can't say TO-DAY," director Jane Wingard reminded him.
The correct line is the man came to the shop at two. It's a very small difference and one that might go otherwise unnoticed if not for the play Maloney is starring in, "Home at Six." It's an entire one-act play where all the dialogue is done in one-syllable words. TO-DAY does not qualify.
And that is half the fun of watching the play. Part of the joy of live theater is that nearly every performance is different. Actors sometimes go off script. So the audience finds itself listening very closely, wondering if any of the actors will make a mistake and utter the dreaded two-syllable word.
"Home at Six" is one of three one-act plays 2nd Star is doing to open its season, calling the show "In the Beginning." The title refers to 2nd Stars roots, because it began by doing two of these three one-act plays in 1996. The other play they started with is "Coup d'Etat." The third play is "The Cat Connection."
Both "Home at Six" and "Coup d'Etat" won awards for 2nd Star at a one-act festival during its first season.
"We had other options. We had considered doing ‘Driving Miss Daisy,' but when we do serious shows, like [last year's] ‘Miracle Worker,' the attendance — Bowie likes to laugh and these are funny shows."
The show is the first of three scheduled to be at Bowie City Hall, because the Bowie Playhouse is undergoing major renovations. Bowie Community Theatre and Prince George's Little Theatre are also scheduled to open their seasons here.
The work at Bowie Playhouse is scheduled to be completed in mid-November, and 2nd Star's production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," is scheduled to run there beginning in mid-November.
Starring in the plays are Steve Andrews of Servena Park; Natalie Daelemans of Bowie; Rosalie Daelemans of Bowie; Zachary Fadler of Crofton; Jerry Gietka of Columbia; Marty Hayes of Annapolis; Wendell Holland of Annapolis; Deborah Krauss of Dunkirk; Carole Long of Laurel; Maloney of Cantonsville; Stevie Mangum of Annapolis; Kathy Marshall of Columbia; Debe Tighe of Bowie; Noah Wingard of Annapolis; and Vivian Wingard of Annapolis.
"Home at Six" is about a man who comes home early from work one day and discovers his ideal family and ideal life aren't exactly what he thought they were. "Coup d'Etat" examines the quest for a new government in a Latin American country where the government is overthrown quite often. And "The Cat Connection" is about two elderly women with little in common who are surprised to learn they both have been feeding the same cat.
But only one of the three is done in one-syllable words.
"What is it A-BOUT …" Maloney said during his rehearsal.
"You can't say that!" Wingard shouted.
More one-act plays
Laurel Mill Playhouse has also caught the one-act bug, and continues its one-act festival this weekend at the theater located at 508 Main St., Laurel.
This weekend, they are doing "Board Meeting," "If God Had Meant for Man to Fly," and "Role of Della." Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $10. Call 301-617-9906.
In The Beginning: An Evening
of One-Act Comedies
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 27
Where: Bowie City Hall, 2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie
Tickets: $20, $17 for seniors and students
Box office: 301-858-7245 or 410-757-5700
