JONESBOROUGH REPERTORY THEATRE

The pace will be fast, says director Kathleen Brannon Buttolph, and she hopes the laughs will come fast, too.

Buttolph is directing the Jonesborough Repertory Theatre’s production of “The Nerd,” which opened Thursday and plays today, Saturday and Sunday, as well as next weekend. It’s a comedy, and it goes full-tilt.

“It’s an old standard that’s really an audience pleaser, and the cast is really having a good time with it,” she said. “It’s a full-energy show. The cast has been exhausted, but they’re having a good time.

“From the time The Nerd arrives until the very end, everyone is constantly moving, all on their own agenda.”

The plot description goes as such: “It’s been years since Willum Cubbert was a draftsman in Vietnam and his life was saved by Rick Steadman. Unfortunately, Willum never had the chance to meet Rick … until now, his 34th birthday. Well, Happy Birthday, Willum. This must be a dream come true for you — NOT.

“Willum’s girlfriend, Tansy, is leaving him aspiring to be one of Washington’s weather girls. His ‘friend and tenant,’ Axel, is a theater critic who is forever encouraging dramatic humor and game. There’s Tansy and Axel; Warnock Waldgrave, Willum’s boss, who only cares about business; Waldgrave’s wife, Clelia, who literally ‘breaks’ to keep composure; and their son, Thor, the ‘poster child for planned parenthood.’ Willum can hardly breathe. It’s hard for him to live up to the ‘gumption’ that Tansy feels he needs.

“Rick’s surprise entrance in the play only leads to more social and professional catastrophe. Willum’s only option is that Rick must leave. But how? Rick saved his life.”

The cast includes Chalmer Harper as Willum Cubbert, Mary Katherine Shull as Tansy McGinnis, Mike Lilly as Axel Hammond, John Beard as Warnock Waldgrave, Rachel Gloess as Clelia Waldgrave, T.J. Riddle as Thor Waldgrave and B.J. Roberts as Rick Steadman.

Buttolph calls it “an interesting cast” drawn from throughout the area, including Greeneville and Gate City, Va., but it’s a group that has bonded during rehearsal, with some of the members staying late to visit. “They’d hang out until midnight if I let them,” she said.

It’s also been a good chance for Riddle, who plays “Thor,” to shine. He is a fourth-grader at Jonesborough Elementary School. Buttolph calls him “a natural-born star. He has been really fun.”

The play was written by Larry Shue, a young playwright who also wrote “The Foreigner” but was killed in a plane crash as the works were seeing success.

Two aspects of the play have presented minor challenges — food and technology. It’s the kind of thing that can take some work to perfect, but no one notices unless something goes wrong.

“The amount of food we’re going to have to cook for this show is something,” Buttolph said. “There’s a dinner party, a birthday party, a tea party, all kinds of ‘food parties.’ We’ve had to figure out how to work all that.

“Sound has been a big factor, largely because there’s a specially designed phone with an answering machine and speaker that’s supposed to be high tech for that time period (about 1980), and we’ve got to get that sound to work perfectly. There’s a lot of timing involved.”

Viewers should keep an eye out for scenes when the cast may have to resist laughing at itself as the words come out. Think “Saturday Night Live.”

The lesson: “What does it take to make you finally say ‘OK, I need to finally get over what I’m doing now and move forward?’ ” Buttolph said. “I think people can relate to every character in some way. Everyone can come out and find their ‘inner nerd.’ ”

Article courtesy of johnsoncitypress.com

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