Item #2: Pitch Perfect

Can you believe thrifTheatre opens tomorrow?! I certainly can’t…but after the tech rehearsals the past two nights, I have to say we have a stellar show with a LOT of stellar people involved. Speaking of stellar, the penultimate thrifTheatre item is quite out of this world –

thrifTheatre item: Antique two-pronged pitchfork

• Inspired the play “American Gothic,” written by Charlotte Winters
• Directed by Cason Murphy, with Sean Jeralds, Sarah Lemcke, Matt Montgomery, Karen Murphy, and Clint Slay

Now, I don’t know if this violates some ancient thrifTheatre tome – we here at the The@trics Historical Divison are looking into it – but this item has…(cue dramatic music)…actually already been onstage. Yes, back in the early part of 2012 after we had purchased some of the items, the Prescott Center for the Arts did a production of The 39 Steps, a silly piece of theatre based on an Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. I was cast alongside the ever-awesome Sean Jeralds (who plays Pa in today’s play “American Gothic”) by Linda Miller (our lovely director of the say-this-name-five-times-fast thrifTheatre piece “Please Knock if Amritsar is Not Required”) and when time came to play the Scottish crofter John McTyte, our prop folks started looking for an antique pitchfork…well, you can all see where this is going.

However, Charlotte Winters got her hands on the pitchfork and sent us back “American Gothic” and there was no way we could pass this one up. This is the latest in Charlotte putting her own unique spin on classic pieces of art, which started with a piece in Little Black Dress INK’s Dirty Laundry Female Playwrights Festival titled “Mona Lisa Approximately” in which two sophisticated (and randy) patrons examine Da Vinci’s masterpiece, which inspires…interesting responses from them.

But “American Gothic” imagines the famous Ma (Karen Murphy) and Pa (Sean Jeralds) in Grant Wood’s seminal piece as sentient (although still fictional)…and Ma is keen to skip out on the farmhouse and find some more excitement. Her escape plans are thwarted in various ways, not only by Pa, but plucky teenager Cassidy (Sarah Lemcke), art school student Skyler (Clint Slay), and Gallery 263’s seemingly-inept security guard Clarence (Matt Montgomery). Ma, and all the others, learn some lessons about themselve along the way, experience some new exciting things, rekindle dulled passions, air out some secrets, build some new friendships – and most importantly, just make us all laugh.

So be sure to come join in the fun – don’t make Pa come after you with his pitchfork! While we may not be able to tell you where his other prong went, we can promise you that you are going to have a BLAST at thrifTheatre. Nab your tickets while you can – online here at Brown Paper Tickets, in person at the CCJ Thrift Shop, or at the door at First Congregational Church (at the door, tickets will be $15 and $10 for students with valid I.D.’s…or if they look like they aren’t old enough to carouse on the weekends). See you soon!