Monday, June 29, 2009
Opening weekend for the Kansas Summer Theatre’s play, “The Spitfire Grill,” left the intimate stage with no open seats, regardless of the adult subject matter and offensive language.
The musical is set in rural Wisconsin, where Percy Talbot, a newly released prisoner, is trying to find a new life after serving time for manslaughter.
Logan Walker, 2009 graduate, played the part of Caleb Thorpe, the antagonist in the story. He said the adult subject matter warning covered all the possibly offensive aspects in the play.
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The Spitfire Grill
Kansas Summer Theater 2009 presents 'The Spitfire Grill' featuring KU students.
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The Spitfire Grill upcoming shows
Murphy Hall
July 1- July 3
7:30 p.m
General admission tickets on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982, and Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.kutheatre.com.
Ticket prices:
$16 for public
$15 for senior citizens, KU faculty and staff
$10 for all students
“There is adult content with Percy’s storyline,” Walker said. “But in general, the show is pretty friendly.”
The play is set in 1938 in a small town called Gilead where Percy finds a job at Hannah Ferguson’s Spitfire Grill. When Hannah becomes injured, Percy is left to take over the cooking and operation of the grill.
David Stogsdill, actor and 2009 graduate, played Sheriff Joe Sutter in the play. He said the adult content warning seemed excessive.
“It’s all attitude,” Stogsdill said. “I have yet to hear of anyone who has complained.”
In the end, the great thematic material outweighed the adult content and language, said David Wilcox, Manhattan senior who saw the play with a friend.
“It hits a lot of emotion,” Wilcox said.
The crew practiced every day and Stogsdill said the practices, performances, and waiting around had created close bonds among the cast.
“The crew has the best camaraderie,” Stogsdill said. “There has been a good development of relationships throughout the whole group.”
Cast members said there was a mother figure in the cast as well. Jeanne Averill, who plays Hannah Ferguson, is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association, a union of professional actors and stage managers in the U.S. Averill is not a student, but being in the union allowed her to audition for the role of the older woman, Hannah.
“We all thought she would come and be somewhat harder to work with because she is not a student,” Walker said. “That’s not the case, she is our show mother, and she is great.”
Averill’s character, Hannah, has a strong personality, which brings life to the play.
“Without her, the play would have lost realism,” Stogsdill said. “The role is really hard for someone our age.”
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