THE RED VELVET CAKE WAR by Jones, Hope and Wooten, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, September 27 - October 19, 2013

presents

The Red Velvet Cake War

by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten

directed by Lynn S. Beaver

September 27, 2013 - October 19, 2013

Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays 8 p.m., Sundays 2: p.m.

Sam Bass Community Theatre, 600 N. Lee St., Round Rock (in Memorial Park)-- CLICK FOR MAP

Tickets $18; $15 seniors, students, educators, military; $15 all Thursday performances 

Reservations: www.sambasstheatre.org

The Red Velvet Cake War opens the Sam Bass Community Theatre 2013-2014 season on September 27th at Sam Bass Community Theatre. In this riotously funny Southern-fried comedy, the three Verdeen cousins—Gaynelle, Peaches and Jimmie Wyvette—could not have picked a worse time to throw their family reunion.

Their outrageous antics have delighted local gossips in the small town of Sweetgum (just down the road from Fayro) and the eyes of Texas are upon them, as their self-righteous Aunt LaMerle is quick to point out. Having “accidentally” crashed her minivan through the bedroom wall of her husband’s girlfriend’s doublewide, Gaynelle is one frazzled nerve away from a spectacular meltdown. Peaches, a saucy firebrand and the number one mortuarial cosmetologist in the tri-county area, is struggling to decide if it’s time to have her long-absent trucker husband declared dead. And Jimmie Wyvette, the rough-around-the-edges store manager of Whatley’s Western Wear, is resorting to extreme measures to outmaneuver a priss-pot neighbor for the affections of Sweetgum’s newest widower.

Raynelle Shelley, Linda Myers and Rhonda Roe as the Verdeen Cousins (photo: Sam Bass Theatre)

But the cousins can’t back out of the reunion now. It’s on and Gaynelle’s hosting it; Peaches and Jimmie Wyvette have decided its success is the perfect way to prove Gaynelle’s sanity to a skeptical court-appointed psychologist. Unfortunately, they face an uphill battle as a parade of wildly eccentric Verdeens gathers on the hottest day of July, smack-dab in the middle of Texas tornado season. Things spin hilariously out of control when a neighbor’s pet devours everything edible, a one-eyed suitor shows up to declare his love and a jaw-dropping high-stakes wager is made on who bakes the best red velvet cake.

As this fast-paced romp barrels toward its uproarious climax, you’ll wish your own family reunions were this much fun!

Cast includes: Anita Tecce, Linda Myers, BJ Machalicek, Frank Benge, Rhonda Roe, Raynelle Shelley, Veronica Prior, Gene Storie, Jeff Sughrue, Lori Iacoletti, Janie Williams and John Iacoletti.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

LOVE LETTERS by A.R. Gurney, Sam Bass Community Theatre, March 22 - April 6, 2013

(Sam Bass Community Theatre, 610 Lee Street, Round Rock)

presents

Love Letters

by A.R. Gurney
directed by Lynn S. Beaver
March 22, 2013 – April 6, 2013
Times: March 22, 23, 29, 30 & April 4, 5 & 6 at 8:00 PM
March 24 and 31 at 2:00 PM
Sam Bass Community Theatre, 600 N. Lee St., Round Rock (in Memorial Park)
$18; $15 seniors, students, educators, military; $13 all Thursday performances
Reservations: www.sambasstheatre.org



Love Letters, the Pulitzer Prize nominated play by A. R. Gurney, is back at SBCT for 9 performances! This is the story of two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, that spans over 50 years, as they discuss their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, victories and defeats – all through the letters they write to each other. Please join us for this evocative, touching, frequently funny but always telling evening in which what is implied is as revealing and meaningful as what is actually written down.

Featuring Frank Benge as Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Veronica Prior as Melissa Gardner

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN by Ariel Dorfmann, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, March 22 - 30, 2013

(Sam Bass Community Theatre, 600 Lee Street, Round Rock)

presents


Death and the Maiden

by Ariel Dorfmann
March 22 - 30, 2013
Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
Sam Bass Community Theatre, 610 Lee Street, Round Rock

Set in an unnamed country that is, like the author's native Chile, emerging from a totalitarian dictatorship, the play explores the after effects of repression on hearts and souls. Paulina Escobar's husband Gerardo is to head an investigation into past human rights abuses. A Dr. Miranda stops at Escobars' to congratulate Gerardo. Paulina overhears them speaking and is convinced that Miranda supervised her prison torture sessions. She ties him to a chair and conducts her own interrogation, gun in hand. Escobar doesn't know whether to believe his distraught wife or his persuasive new friend. This white knuckle thriller is a rivetting intellectual and emotional tug of war.

"Searing." - Christian Science Monitor

"Magnificent...One of those rare plays which...seem to grasp the pulse of the century." - London Financial Times

"A terrifying moral thriller which combines brilliant theatricality with clear thought and fierce compassion." - London Sunday Times

"Suspenseful, rivetting... movingly personal." - The New York Times

PLEASE NOTE: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY!
CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE AND THEMES!

Make Reservations at http://www.sambasstheatre.org

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Reviews from Elsewhere: Cici Barone on Frankie and Johnnie in the Claire de Lune, Frogdog Productions at the City Theatre, February 1 - 16, 2013

Published February 12 at www.austinentertainmentweekly.com:

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

by Terrence McNally

Frogdog Productions at the City Theatre, February 1 - 16

reviewed by CiCi Barone

 

In its inaugural production, Frogdog Productions did an admirable job with a script of which I cannot honestly say I am a fan. As director Ronni D. Prior put it, “It’s a love story without all the romance stuff getting in the way.” There were moments of brilliance and a few missteps but all in all I’d say the two person cast did a decent job.

The plot of the play is relatively simple, though the author throws it around at random much like the film, “Lost in Translation.” Unless you had a flow chart, at times the conversation was hard to follow. Frankie is a waitress and Johnny is the short order chef at the same restaurant. The play follows the 24 hours following their first date, and Johnny’s desperate attempts to convince Frankie that they are soul mates and this is the only instant in their lives in which they have to truly connect and decide that they will be together.

As patrons walk into the theatre, you are immediately struck by a very yellow set, designed by director Ronni Prior and producer/female lead Summer Lynn Bryant, which is obviously a very small apartment. It’s a bit cluttered as though its inhabitant has lived there for quite a long time. Clothes are strewn all about the floor and a bright blue bra is meretriciously hanging from a shelf, leading one to suspect certain adult activities have just taken place.

Read more at www.austinentertainmentweekly.com. . . .

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIRE DE LUNE by Terrence McNally, City Theatre, February 1 - 16

(3823 Airport Rd. at 38 1/2 St., behind the Shell station)

presents

Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune

by Terrence McNally

directed by Ronnie Dobell Prior
featuring Summer Lyn Bryant and Ben Weaver

February 1 - 16, Thursdays- Sundays at 8 p.m.

Click to purchase tickets ($16.52 including fees) at

"Do you take requests, Marlon?

There's a man and a woman. No great beauties, either one. They meet where they work: a restaurant and it's not the ritz. She'e a waitress. He's a cook. Right off. They both knew tonight was going to happen.

Would you play something for Frankie and Johnny on the eve of something that ought to last, not self-destruct?"

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Video for Upcoming: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindell, Austin Theatre Project at Dougherty Arts Center, July 13 - 29

Austin Theatre Project

presents

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

July 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 at 7:30 p.m.
July 15, 22, 29 at 3:00 p.m.
July 21 at 2:00 p.m.

Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd. (click for map)

Tickets $16.52 - $37.22 via 

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work. The play's world premiere was staged in 1964 at the Alley Theatre in Houston, after which it premiered in New York City Off Broadway. It was adapted for the screen in 1972, directed by Paul Newman and starring his wife Joanne Woodward, daughter Nell Potts, and Roberta Wallach, daughter of Eli Wallach. Woodward won the award for Best Actress at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.

Click for more information at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Hamlet, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, February 10 - March 3

Why climb a mountain? Because it's there.

Sam Bass Community Theatre in Round Rock is a small, hard working group of friends who know their public and regularly serve up dramatic fare that's been tested and approved in the community kitchens across the country. Those Futrelle sisters of the mythical small town of Fayro, Texas, imagined by the trio of Hope, Jones, and Wooten, for example; or other kinder and more thoughtful staples of middle class dramatic life. The company does a good job on their tiny stage and the familiar faces satisfy and console.

About once a year they stretch. Not a little, but a lot. In 2008 with Romeo and Juliet and in 2010 with Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett's mid-20th century absurdist existentialist masterpiece. In 2011 with Frank Benge's magical steam-punk Tempest Project. This year director Lynn Beaver takes on the Mt. Everest of English-language theatre, the story of the much-wronged and much-haunted prince of a Denmark that never really existed except in imagination.

In the compiled version that has come down to us Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest text, more than4000 lines of unforgettable verse that takes more than four hours to play entire. Just about everyone knows the story. The language, expressions and imagery live deep in the shared culture.

Beaver's version at the Sam Bass plays start to finish in two hours, including an intermission. Key scenes are there but in order to achieve that concision the text has been amputated again and again. Those who know it only vaguely won't be disturbed, for the story remains as strong as ever, but devotees of Shakespeare's language may experience the gaps as disconcerting.

Upcoming: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, December 2 - 17

Found on-line:

presents

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

based on the award-winning book by Barbara Robinson

directed by Veronica Prior

December 2 - 17, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Sam Bass Community Theatre, 600 Lee Street, Round Rock (click for map)

Tickets $13 - $18; click to purchase on-line

Just in time for the holidays comes a wonderful story about the beauty of the season and the true meaning of Christmas...Wrong! When two well-intentioned parents decide to direct the school play, they make the terrible mistake of casting the Herdman kids; probably the most inventively awful kids in history! Chaos and hilarity results as the cast and crew collide with the Christmas story head on!

The Flair of Sam Bass: The Tempest Project, May 20 - June 11

How much magic can you pack into the box?

The Sam Bass Community Theatre has seats for 52 in that modest structure on Lee Street in Round Rock, north of Austin. The building once served as the Union Pacific depot in town, and one assumes that there wasn't need to serve a lot of passengers. So this theatre can entertain a maximum of just a few more than 200 persons during each week, or about 800 during the course of the usual run. That will be the equivalent of two nights' capacity at the Zach's new Topfer Theatre, or just about 2½ nights at Travis High School performing arts center, where The Mikado has been playing.

Writing recently about the current remarkable season of Shakespeare in Austin, I called the Sam Bass "the little theatre that could," echoing the children's book about the little engine that huffed and puffed and made it to the very tip top of the mountain.Frank Benge's steam punk adaptation of The Tempest ran from May 20 to June 11. It was a triumph of concept and design, bringing into focus the astonishing talent on display at this modest but long-running theatre.

[image: Susan Poe Dickson as Prospera, by Kevin Scholtes]

Click to read more and view additional images at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Upcoming: A Company of Wayward Saints, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, March 25 - April 9

Received directly:

presents

A Company of Wayward Saints

by George Herman

directed by Veronica Prior

March 25 to April 9

Sam Bass Community Theatre

600 Lee Street, Round Rock (click for map)

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., tickets $10-15

Hoping to raise enough money to make their way home, an eccentric troupe of commedia dell'arte actors are commissioned to improvise the History of Man. From the Garden of Eden to the Voyage of Odysseus, these stock characters from the Italian Renaissance maneuver to upstage one another in a battle for the spotlight.

We hope you will come join us on this journey. Come see some of your favorite Sam Bass actors, along with some new faces. We promise it will be an evening of theatre to remember!!

Steel Magnolias, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, January 27 - February 19

At one point in Robert Harling's mischievous script for Steel Magnolias, set in Truvy's beauty shop in Chinquapin, Louisiana, tidily turned out Clairee Beltcher responds when the newly hired perm-and-trim assistant Annelle worries that one of the husbands might intrude into that women's world. "Oh, those men wouldn't ever come in here," she says. "They're afraid that we might be running around nekkid or something."

Harling's 1987 play and the 1989 film of succeed exactly because of that. These simple, charming women are sweet and frank with one another, emotionally naked and not the least ashamed of it.

Steel Magnolias is a story with a powerful attraction, one that transcends the merely "chick flic" aspect of it. It's a story of friendship and binding over the long term. No wonder that this play is so frequently produced in community theatre. I first saw it at Way Off Broadway Community Players in Leander in January 2009, then again a few months later at the Trinity Street Players of First Baptist Church. I was out of town when the City Theatre did it this past December. Sam Bass has this appealing production running until February 19, the Renaissance Guild in San Antonio stages an African-American edition for three weekends starting on Friday, February 4, and the Hill Country Community Theatre near Marble Falls holds auditions late this month for an April production.

It's popular with audiences because they know the story and they can't resist the story of the fragile young Shelby surrounded by those funny and affectionate older women. Almost everyone loves a good cry -- 'cepting maybe the caricatured Louisiana men who never look inside the beauty shop.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Images from Sam Bass Community Theatre: Steel Magnolias, January 28 - February 14

Images received directly from the Sam Bass Community Theatre:

Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, presents

Steel Magnolias

by Robert Harling

directed by Olin Meadows

January 28 - February 19, 2010

600 Lee Street, Round Rock (click for map)

Sam Bass Theatre of Round Rock is pleased to announce its first production of 2011, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, written by Robert Harling and directed by Olin Meadows. Come join us as we take you take you back to the 1980's in the heart of Louisiana to Chinquapin Parish and meet the colorful and vibrant ladies of this small southern town.

This show is sure to be a hit, with Joan Baker as Claree Belcher, the former First Lady of Chinquapin, along with Veronica "Ronni" Prior as Ouiser Boudreax, the crotchety but lovable old crow of the town, followed up by Alicia "Cici" Barone and Kat Connor, doubling in the role of Shelby Eatenton Latcherie, the prettiest girl in town and the conductor of this roller coaster ride of emotions, aided by her mother, M'Lynn Eatenton, played by Cathie Sheridan. And featuring Meagan Henderson as Annelle Dupuy, the young budding beautician and her mentor Truvy Jones, played by Edie Elkjer, the proprietor of Truvy's Beauty shop where all the action happens in this rollercoaster of fun, laughter, tears and heartwarming moments.

Director Olin Meadows has directed many productions across the state of Texas and is best known for his creation of Saffire T. Stone one of the top female impersonators in the state of Texas, as well as Sam Bass Theatre's annual "Evening Under the Stars," staged every New Year's Eve as a fundraiser for local arts in Round Rock.

Click to view additional images at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

Upcoming: Steel Magnolias, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, January 28 - February 14

Received directly:

Sam Bass Theatre, Round Rock, presents

Steel Magnolias

Written by Robert Harling

Directed by Olin Meadows

January 28 - February 19, 2010
Sam Bass Community Theatre, 600 Lee Street, Round Rock

Sam Bass Theatre of Round Rock is pleased to announce its first production of 2011, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, Written by Robert Harling, and Directed by Olin Meadows. This production features some of the top actresses of the Austin area. Come join us as we take you take you back to the 1980's in the heart of Louisiana to Chinquapin Parish and meet the colorful and vibrant ladies of this small southern town.

This show is sure to be a hit, with Joan Baker as Claree Belcher, the former First Lady of Chinquapin, along with Veronica "Ronni" Prior as Ouiser Boudreax, the crotchety but lovable old crow of the town, followed up by Alicia "Cici" Barone and Kat Connor, doubling in the role of Shelby Eatenton Latcherie, the prettiest girl in town and the conductor of this roller coaster ride of emotions, aided by her mother, M'Lynn Eatenton, played by Cathie Sheridan. And featuring Meagan Henderson as Annelle Dupuy, the young budding beautician and her mentor Truvy Jones, played by Edie Elkjer, the proprietor of Truvy's Beauty shop where all the action happens in this rollercoaster of fun, laughter, tears and heartwarming moments.

Director Olin Meadows has directed many productions across the state of Texas and is best known for his creation of Saffire T. Stone one of the top female impersonators in the state of Texas, as well as Sam Bass Theatre's annual "Evening Under the Stars," staged every New Year's Eve as a fundraiser for local arts in Round Rock. Additionally, his productions of "The Dames of Deception" and his "Legendary" drag brunch have garnered waves of critical acclaim, and brought joy to audiences across the state. Stay tuned for future productions featuring an array of colorful characters and thought provoking stories from this young and innovative director.

This show is sure to be a favorite that you will want to return to again and again, so get your tickets now before they are gone. The production will run for fourteen shows, opening January 28, 2011 running Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 2:00pm until February 19th, 2011. Tickets are fifteen dollars for general admission and thirteen dollars for students and seniors, with special Thursday night prices of ten dollars, A perfect Valentine gift for that special some one!

Secondary Cause of Death, Sam Bass Community Theatre, September 24 - October 16

The Sam Bass players put their energy and ingenuity into Peter Gordon’s Secondary Cause of Death and I did get some smiles from it. The Round Rock thespian crew under Lynn Beaver's direction were performing the equivalent of CPR on a piece that probably should have been selected for unfavorable triage at a much earlier date.

With this play the British playwright wrote the second in his “Inspector Pratt” trilogy, a follow-up to his Murdered to Death, done successfully last year at the Sam Bass Community Theatre. That was a parody of the never-out-of-print-and-ever-popular Agatha Christie’s “Miss Marple” series of detective stories. In addition to “Miss Joan Maple” played by Veronica Prior, the murder-in-the-mansion story featured Frank Benge as Inspector Pratt ( = in British slang, “idiot”), a sort of looming English version of Inspector Clouseau. Richard Dodwell was the old chap retired colonel from India. That play wound up in the classic confrontation in the drawing room, during which (spoiler alert!) Miss Maple herself was revealed to be the culprit and the colonel’s good wife went off to the loony bin.

A general rule of thumb in the cinema is that follow-up pieces, the ones bearing those Roman numerals II, III, IV and so on, are not going to be as good as the originals. The surprises of the initial story become familiar background, the thrill is gone, and one waits to see the ingenuity of the scriptwriters and the director. Infrequently, it works – if one has the resources and the imagination of, say, George Lucas or of Gene Rodenberry and the fleet of creative teams that followed him. Even the playwriting trio of Jones, Hope & Wooton managed it, because the antics of their insane Futrelle sisters have some outrageously silly things to say to us about contemporary small town Texas. (Check out their newest in a Sam Bass exclusive in December.)

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Royal Pretenders at Sam Bass Community Theatre, August 19 - 29

. . . or, perhaps, The Road to Salvation as imagined by Bart Simpson.

The setting is a clichéd and unfunny take on the Day of Judgment, the plot's a mess, the characters are mostly caricatures, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot was LONG -- close to three hours, including one intermission.

A brilliant and moving play was hiding inside this mess, one that came clear in the concluding scenes, after the grunge and cuteness had been burned away.

One had the impression that Stephen Adly Guirgis set out to write a stand-up comedy routine about the afterlife and just couldn't bear to discard any of the many characters that occurred to him along the way.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Royal Pretenders at the Sam Bass Community Theatre, August 19 - 29

. . or, perhaps, The Road to Salvation as imagined by Bart Simpson.


The setting is a clichéd and unfunny take on the Day of Judgment, the plot's a mess, the characters are mostly caricatures, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot was LONG -- close to three hours, including one intermission.


A brilliant and moving play was hiding inside this mess, one that came clear in the concluding scenes, after the grunge and cuteness had been burned away.


One had the impression that Stephen Adly Guirgis set out to write a stand-up comedy routine about the afterlife and just couldn't bear to discard any of the many characters that occurred to him along the way.

Read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . .

Waiting for Godot, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, March 26 - April 10

Director Veronica Prior took on the job of directing this classic piece of twentieth century theatre despite some misgivings. She writes in the program, "I studied this play in college, as many of us did. I have seen several different productions over the years, and wondered what was wrong with me, that I just didn't 'get it.' I am a simple person, not a philosopher. To be honest, I know very little of the 'isms' that others see in this play. I see a story. A good story, and one that has something for each of us to hear."

This production proves her wrong. Ronnie Prior does "get it." This is a notable staging, an exploration in airy, droll and quizzical comic mode. Actors and director do not flinch from Beckett's dark message, but they glide through it, moment by moment, with a tolerance for ambiguity and for one another.

This text from the 1950s, written first in French and later converted by the author into English, has provoked endless debte and discussion. Martin Esslin used it to push the thesis of his book The Theatre of the Absurd. Vivien Mercier wrote a famous review in the Irish Times calling it "a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats. What's more, since the second act is a subtly different reprise of the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens, twice." And if you want a summary and a long taste of the "-isms" eagerly applied to the play, spend some time with the entry in Wikipedia.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Waiting for Godot, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, March 26 - April 10

Click for ALT review, April 1

Received directly:

Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, presents

Waiting for Godot

by Samuel Beckett
directed by Veronica Prior
March 26 - April 10, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets $13 and $15, available from SBCT website

A road. A tree. And two guys in bowler hats. Didi and Gogo, two beloved tramps, are stranded at a crossroads, awaiting a mysterious person named Godot. Their struggle with even the simplest tasks is a funny and touching glimpse into man’s ability to survive in an absurd world.

Considered by many to be one of, if not the, most influential play of the 20th century, Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot is a blend of Buster Keaton slapstick, high wit, poetic feats and heartbreaking poignancy. Waiting for Godot asks the big questions with theatricality, tension, humor, and grace: how do we get up every morning, fight through every day, and go to sleep every evening never knowing whether our hopes and dreams might be granted?

Featuring Frank Benge, Craig Kanne, Ben Weaver, William Diamond, Rylei Brown and Ashlyn Nichols.

Murdered to Death, Sam Bass Community Theatre, Round Rock, September 18 - October 10

Peter Gordon's script of Murdered to Death is a loving send-up of the British "whodunit" and in particular of Agatha Christie's drawing room murder mysteries.

Dame Agatha's novels still sell vigorously today. Not so much in the United States, where we're more likely to encounter them at the public library or at used book sales along with discarded piles of Readers' Digest condensed books. But the French, the Germans, and -- presumably -- the British consume lots of Christie.

That tiny authoress, born in 1890 and died in 1976, has sold four billion copies of her novels to date, according to Wikipedia. Only the Bible has outsold her. She's the most translated author of all time, according to UNESCO, outsold only by the collective corporate output of Walt Disney. Her novels have appeared in 56 languages.

Perhaps because she constructed her tidy little puzzles in imagined comfortable settings stereotypical of the British landed gentry and bourgeoisie. Perhaps because she contrasted the elaborate politeness and bloodless deference of the educated English with their secret, bloody passions. Perhaps because in that world,crimes and mysteries were generally elucidated and the guilty were ususally apprehended by the equally polite and deferential forces of order, guided almost always by an inspired amateur.

It's a familiar scene, that 1930s tranquility sealed up in our imaginations, safe from the depredations of the wider world. The tidy universe of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot is such a part of English literary tradition that it's ripe for ribbing and interpretation.

Playwright Peter Morgan happily employs Christie's devices and character types, and the cast at the Sam Bass Community Theatre plays them with due respect -- in fact, the more absurd the goings on, the more deadpan is the humor. And it's very amusing, indeed.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .