Tanya Barfield’s Bright Half Life seems more of a portrait than a play — a mosaic portrait pieced together from pivotal moments in the lives of two complicated women trying to love each other with hope and endurance — flashing back and forth from 1985 to 2031.

Erica (Dani Ciochrane) and Vicki (Tamara PiLar) create each mosaic piece, coming together on a mysterious cloudy void of a set (Jennifer Maiseloff) with locations created by lighting (Rachael Nardecchia) and sound (Suzi Regan). I note that director Megan Buckley-Ball and all the other tech staff are women.

Though lesbian and interracial issues are included (Vicki is Black; Erica is white) universal issues of attraction, devotion, conflict, and compromise make this mosaic portrait relatable to everyone. With humor and compassion, it celebrates the volatility of a long-term relationship.

This is another script that benefits from the intimate closeness of the small Williamston venue where you can experience the nuances of two excellent actresses artfully traveling the messy-but-worth-it pathway of long-term relationship. 

Bright Half Life continues through May 19. Tickets and info at http://www.williamstontheatre.org

By Guest Reviewer Michelle Harvey Hill

Owosso’s Lebowsky Center has done a fantastic send-up of the Agatha Christie classic Murder on the Orient Express.  Amy Jo Brown, the director, has assembled a terrific cast, full of unique characters with a variety of convincing accents.  

M.D. Nelson embodies the role of Hercule Poirot, expertly portraying his humorous quirks while corralling the numerous suspects. (Incidentally, the mustache is real).  Standouts include Anthony Mandalari as Samuel Ratchett and Dawn Sabourin as Helen Hubbard, both playing flamboyant Americans with gusto.

The train set was amazing. It was effectively another character in the show, doing a great job of conveying the feeling of tight spaces. Train movement was well-displayed by collaboration between the actors, sound, lights, and special effects. The Set Team is credited as Kent & Sharon Kukulis, Amy Jo Brown, Dan Wenzlick, and Tim Feldpausch.

The flashback scenes were particularly creative and effective.  I highly recommend the drive out to Owosso. Even if you already know whodunit, you’ll enjoy the train ride as they arrive at the solution.

Murder on the Orient Express continues through April 29. Tickets at https://lebowskycenter.com

Peppermint Creek’s latest is very “pepperminty” in furthering their mission to “raise awareness and encourage dialogue while entertaining.” Alabama Story was inspired by true events in Montgomery Alabama. “The Rabbit’s Wedding” children’s book sparked a fight between a senator wanting to ban it and the librarian who defended it. 

Though "Alabama Story" is set in 1959, the fight against book banning remains unfortunately timely. This production uses Stage One’s video screens for a pre-show/intermission slide show that lists recent incidents of censorship that have been brought by the ACLU of Michigan.

Playwright Kenneth Jones reported, "In 2015, when Alabama Story premiered at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, I naively thought I was writing a period piece that was a mashup of a courtroom drama, a political thriller, a romance and a memory play. Traditional. Entertaining. Almost old-fashioned. It never occurred to me that the piece would become more relatable as the years went on." https://bykennethjones.com/childrens-book-about-interracial-rabbits-wedding-is-called-propaganda-in-1959/

Jones has artfully delivered the history with a layer of fiction that adds heart and humanity to the script. Joshua Moore and Xia Skowronek give us the fictional Black and White childhood friends, growing up throughout the story and adding thought-provoking points of view. 

Gini Larson brings a modest strength and dignity to her Librarian-champion role as the historical Emily Wheelock Reed, maintaining, “...A librarian must make books available. I believe that the free flow of information is the best means to work out problems facing the South, the nation and the world.”

Ayden Soupal is charmingly earnest as Emily's devoted assistant Thomas Franklin. David Brooks is appropriately smarmy and bombastic as Senator E.W. Higgins (based on a real senator, but the name was changed… to protect the guilty?) It was a treat to see Jeff Boerger back on stage as Garth Williams, witty artistic author of “The Rabbit’s Wedding” serving as our host/narrator/emcee, who also steps in to play various extra characters throughout the play.

The play is not short — about two and a half hours — but it flows quickly under Heath Sartorius’s direction, using a giant story book as backdrop, with the large “pages” turned by the actors to quickly move us from the library to other locations. Heath credits A.D. Karrington Kelsey with the backdrop-book idea and set designer Ro Salarian and painters Kelley McNabb and Lino Pretto did a lovely job executing this both appropriate and practical quick-scene-change device.

Peppermint Creek also is promoting resources below from the Michigan Libraries Association and the ACLU of Michigan that give us a roadmap for combating book banning.
MI Right to Read is a grassroots coalition of Michigan residents organized by the Michigan Library Association. The coalition opposes any attempts to ban books from Michigan libraries based on content subjectively deemed inappropriate. Its purpose is to educate the public and propose/support legislation that protects First Amendment rights and intellectual freedom. Find more information and take action at https://www.mirighttoread.com/.

Alabama Story continues through April 28 — Remember all Peppermint shows now start at 7pm (except Sunday 2pm matinees) at Stage One Sycamore Creek Eastwood, directly across from McAllister’s Deli on Lake Lansing Road; driveway east of the building, parking lot in back. Tickets at https://peppermintcreek.org/event/alabama-story/

​Riverwalk’s Black Box was full on this opening night — in many ways. First with an almost-sold-out audience, and also with a full spectrum of emotions, from laughter to tears and a lot in between, frustration, devotion, regret, anger, love…

Moonglow is Michigan playwright Kim Carney’s beautiful “dramedy” of two families’ experience with “the emotional roller coaster of Alzheimer’s disease” as director Emily Clark explains in her note. The program also includes contact information for the Alzheimer’s Association Michigan Chapter at all.org/gmc email helplinegmc@alzorg and a 24/7 Helpline” 800-272-3900.

Sounds dark, I know, but, trust me, it’s funny and entertaining, too — with “dance numbers” and laugh-out-loud jokes on the quirks of humanity and the complicated relationships families create, which become even more complicated when memory and present-day reality merge.

Erin Hoffman displays a heartfelt combination of frustration and devotion as she installs her very unwilling mother (Barb Stauffer) into a nursing facility. There she meets Joe, another resident who shares her love of dancing. Their hazy memories overlap and grow into a love affair with each other as stand-ins for their respective past spouses. Barb’s transitions from anger to childlike neediness to romantic girlfriend are unsettling but intriguing to watch. 

Doak Bloss’s Joe also drifts between a dismissive father who doesn't remember his his son’s name to a charming, flirtatious boyfriend. His son (Frank Boston) tries to connect and do the right thing, to no avail. Filonna Thomas, nursing home administrator, does her best to steady the rocky boat with her patients and their children. Her expression after discovering her patients’ affair is priceless.

Emerging from the darkness and blending in and out of this reality are Storm Hawthorne and Connor Kelly as the past identities of the nursing home pair. Storm’s giddy jitterbugger overlaps and blends into Barb’s stubborn, cranky present-day combatant. Connor’s dashing sailor does the same with Doak. Their presence and spirit fill out our pictures of the two elders as they drift in and out of the “nowhere” background of this furniture-only set, over a beautiful, abstract “moon-y” floor (scenography Ric Sadler) with Ted Daniel’s lighting focusing our attention on either the present or past.

This is a beautiful, heartfelt show — with, as I mentioned, a full house of people who will recommend it to others, so best to phone ahead or reserve online to assure admission, even though it’s general seating — and arrive early; there are only about 80 seats in the Black Box. 517-482-5700; https://www.riverwalktheatre.com/box-office.html Moonglow continues through April 21.