Published: 06:00 AM, Wed Mar 17, 2010
'The Member of the Wedding' is an enjoyable period piece
"The Member of the Wedding" is set in a long-disappeared South where screen doors are left unlocked, housekeepers rule the roost and people say things like, "Merciful heavens!"
It's a period piece, the enjoyment of which depends largely on one's fondness for that particular period.
The play, directed by Bo Thorp, opened at Cape Fear Regional Theatre on Friday. Performances continue through March 28.
Based on a book by Carson McCullers, who is the featured author in the Cumberland County Public Library's "Big Read" program, the play is the story of Frankie Addams, a 12-year-old tomboy poised awkwardly between childhood and adulthood.
The setting is a small town in Georgia in the 1940s. Frankie's older brother, Jarvis (MacRae Vallery), has brought home his bride-to-be (Molly Griggs) to introduce to the family.
Frankie (Mary Mattison Vallery) spends most of her time hanging out with her younger cousin, John Henry (Jeremy Ragland), and with the family's housekeeper, Berenice (Sharon Smith McNair). Frankie's mother is deceased; her father (James Dean) is a distant, mostly absent figure.
Jarvis' impending wedding throws Frankie into a tizzy. Somehow, she convinces herself that she is going to go off to live with the couple in Alaska.
It's a delusion that Frankie clings to ferociously, even as Berenice warns her not to get her hopes up.
Featuring a simple set consisting of just a kitchen and a backyard, "The Member of the Wedding" is an intimate play. Most of the scenes just feature the characters of Berenice, Frankie and John Henry, although about a dozen other actors come and go.
At a Sunday matinee performance, the troupe got off to a somewhat stiff start. Perhaps that's because some of the archaic dialogue does not flow easily off the tongue.
Gradually, the actors hit their stride and the three- act play settled into a comfortable groove and drew the audience in.
Vallery, a high school freshman, has had starring roles in the theater's last two plays - she played Wendy in Peter Pan earlier this year. The actress impressed with her handling of the material and her character's wild mood swings. At one point, Frankie blissfully imagines life with her brother and his wife. A little later she shouts, "I wish the whole world would die!" and threatens to slit Berenice's throat. Yikes!).
McNair, better known for her singing roles, excelled in a dramatic part (and she does sing a little). Young Jeremy Ragland won the audience over with his charming portrayal.
Issues of sexuality and racism are touched on, but not really explored in depth. The focus is on Frankie and her tortured passage into adulthood.
Although the emotional climax of the play seemed to fall a little flat Sunday, it is a mostly pleasing look at a bygone era.
Staff writer Rodger Mullen can be reached at mullenr@fayobserver.com or 486-3561.
'The Member of the Wedding'
Where: Cape Fear Regional Theatre, 1209 Hay St.
When: Shows are through March 28. Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8:15 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 and 8:15 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets:$17 to $23. Discounts for seniors, students and active-duty military are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturday matinees.
Information: 323-4233 or