Farce of Nature

facepalmWhere’s the best fishin’ in the Ozarks? Right here in
Boone County—at the Reel ’Em Inn, a little fishing lodge right on the Harrison square! It has all the amenities: fishin’, huntin’, a maid packin’ heat, rampagin’ animals…and some gangsters from Chicago thrown in just for kicks!

The Ozark Arts Council and The Theatre Co. of the Ozarks invite you to the great outdoors of the historic Lyric Theater—where the summer is always cooler!—for Farce of Nature, a side-splitting comedy, THIS Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, August 4–6 at 7:00 PM and this Sunday, August 7 at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available for purchase through our ticketing web site or by calling (870) 391-3504.

Meet D. Gene Wilburn (Nate Jordon), the owner and proprietor of The Reel ‘Em Inn, the finest little fishing lodge in the Ozarks. Well, it used to be, but lately business is down, tourists are few, and the lone guest who’s just checked in – an extremely jittery Carmine DeLuca (Cameron Carlton) from Chicago – is only there due to a location shift in the Witness Protection Program. Doesn’t anybody just want to fish anymore?!?

fallingCertainly not D. Gene’s frustrated wife, Wanelle (Shellie Renner), who’s fed up with their lackluster romantic life! She’s taken drastic steps to improve it through hypnotic suggestion and for the life of him, D. Gene cannot understand why his pants keep falling down. D. Gene’s feisty sister, Maxie (Dana O’Quin), has her own problems, chief among them battling ageism to resume her career in law enforcement. She’ s determined to prove her worth by keeping Carmine DeLuca alive through the weekend—a task that’s going to prove to be much harder than she bargained for since she keeps losing both her gun and her bullets. And she never anticipated that the gangster Camine’s been dodging for the last five years, Sonny Barbosa (Michael Amburn), is about to walk through the door, in hot pursuit of his sexy wife, Lola (Julianna Stefanski). Seems the headstong Lola has driven hundreds of miles to the lodge to follow her boytoy, Ty (Preston Garrison), D. Gene and Wanelle’s son. But Lola meets her match in Ty’s seemingly innocent girlfriend, Jenna (Sara Davidson), whose patience has reached the breaking point after months of waiting for Ty to come home. And when Roxanne Thorne (Roz Slavik) comes running into their lives, they must all make a decision that could change their lives forever.

In the deliciously funny romp that ensues, they all hide, lie, disguise themselves, cross-dress, and slam doors chasing one another while trying to figure out the source of an increasingly awful stench. But by then it’s too late and the lodge is surrounded by vicious critters and hungry varmints that have followed the odor down from the hills and are looking for some fresh meat…

This hilarious and fast-paced comedy is guaranteed to win y’all over, hook, line, and sinker! So we invite you to kick back, relax, do a little “Woo Pig Sooie”-ing, and, finally, grab ’hold of your belt and shut up and fish!

All photos courtesy Beth Crenshaw Photography.

 tickets

Hamlet

 

 

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
November 17–23, 2015

[Source: November 17, 2015 OAC eNews]

The main floor of the historic Lyric Theater has a few seats left in the center section for opening night, plus many great seats 9right, left, and balcony…and looking at the names on the tickets, we can tell you that there are a bunch of folks whose place in the audience almost serves as ‘extra cast’, because they add to the atmosphere of the production. (There’s no good way to explain this…but come tonight and you will see!)

These wonderful photos from Tavi Photography of NWA (and our own OAC files) just scratch the surface in conveying how dynamic this cast is in its presentation of Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy.hamletpromo_med-files_13wm

Directors Michael Mahoney and Rebekah Wilson manage to extract every ounce of energy from their cast in every performance. Their rehearsals for Hamlet have been so intense and entertaining that they should have been selling tickets to the rehearsals, as well!

hamletpromo_med-files_44wm hamletpromo_med-files_40wm hamletpromo_med-files_02wmThis is no stiff and boring “class assignment” that you will be viewing. Hamlet is a tale of lies and of love—both romance and 6platonic devotion—of injustice and of action…with just enough merriment sprinkled in to break up the tension…only so that even more tension may be created by the next scene!

If this is your first time seeing Hamlet, come to opening night tonight so that you’re able to fit in another viewing, as you will want to come back during 7this
brief run!

For you who have known and loved this play for years, you will not be disappointed by this production! Michael and Bekah, along with their hamletpromo_med-files_22wmassistant director, Mary Crosley, and their whole crew have done an amazing job of giving their cast a fitting atmosphere for excellence, and the cast has risen to their every challenge and demand! The growth from the first day until now is nearly unfathomable, as the growth just in the past month is itself massively impressive.

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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, a joint 15production of Northark Drama and The Theatre Company of the Ozarks, opens tonight at 7:00 at the historic Lyric Theater on the Harrison, Arkansas square and will also be performed this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings (November 18–21) at 7:00 p.m., Sunday, November 22, at 2:00 p.m., and Monday, November 23, at 10:00 a.m.

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