“Becky’s New Car” Opens to Appreciative Audience at Carpenter Square
Elizabeth Hurd Published: September 5th, 2016
Carpenter Square Theatre opens a 33rd season with a light-hearted comedy, “Becky’s New Car” by noted American playwright Steven Dietz. Artistic Director Rhonda Clark directs. The action takes place in a typical American city like Seattle. Becky Foster is a middle-aged, middle-class and rather muddled woman with a 26 year old son living at home and a doting husband. She is looking for something she never knew she missed. She works at a very successful car dealership, staying long hours without compensation. She tells us that her friend always said that ‘a woman who wants a new car really wants a new life’ and sets out to prove that theory by falling into her own new life.
From the moment the lights first come up on “Becky’s New Car” we discover that Dietz has dispensed with the fourth wall, and a few of the audience members briefly become active participants in the production. Any patrons who wish to avoid this need simply also avoid being seated in the first row.
While working late one evening, Becky meets an eccentric widowed millionaire who for some unexplainable reason assumes that she is also widowed. He interrupts her every time she tries to tell him otherwise. When he invites her to his upscale mansion for a dinner with the privileged few she comes, filled with guilt and rationalization and somehow falls into an affair. By the end of the show she is so tangled up with her deceit that there is no escape, however, as this is a comedy a happy ending will somehow occur…perhaps with additional help from the audience. “Becky’s New Car” is filled with cute comedy as Becky tastes the good life.
“Becky’s New Car” stars Lilli Bassett in the title role and she deftly handles transitions into the various spaces as well as working with the audience and other actors. Carl Lance is her husband Joe, and he comes across as a loving husband, happy with wife and roofing career. Matt C. Cross is son Chris, and he is slightly ambitious as a psychology grad student even though he is stuck in a teen-aged behavior pattern. Terry Veal is Walter Flood, the wealthy successful businessman who seems to fall in love with Becky at first glance. Veal’s tendency to whine as he tries to overcome his grief over the loss of his wife is somewhat at odds with the self-assurance the action indicates. Mark Ingham is Steve Singletary, a talkative salesman at Becky’s workplace whose own status as a widower is just as devastating. Ashley Frisbee is Kenni, the lovely and spoiled but balanced daughter of Walter and finally, Laurie Blankenship is Ginger, the upper-crust friend of Walter’s who must adjust to losing her fortune.
The set, designed by Ben Hall and Clark delineates four separate action areas. They are Becky’s home, Flood’s mansion, Becky’s office and two of Becky’s cars. The decorations for all areas are road signs: appropriate for the play, but jarring without humor in both residential locations. The original concept is good; the ‘STOP’ and ‘DON’T STOP’ signs in the universal hall and auto locales is brilliant. Unfortunately, more is not necessarily better and the signage at home seems out of place and a little confusing as if the action were taking place in someone’s basement wreck room rather than an estate and an upper middle class home.
Dietz gives each character a great deal of charisma but little substance. Clark’s direction does not take advantage of the few opportunities to give them depth. The one dimensionality in character presentation softens the humor so that “Becky’s New Car” is very funny but not hilarious. The description of Walter’s deceased wife as ‘shallow as a cookie sheet’ applies to all. Comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin and it is tragedy as well as comedy that is the foundation of humor. In “Becky’s New Car” the coin has been spent. The production is still very clever and well worth seeing with the fast pacing and unadulterated humor that guarantees an evening of chuckles. The lobby features guest artists and “Becky’s New Car” presents Bill and Susan Schmidt. Together they display works in multiple mediums including the magnificent paintings Susan does on porcelain. Carpenter Square’s feature artists frequently display directly on the set, and many of the paintings would have been excellent choices for Becky’s home and even Walter’s mansion. The Schmidt’s are a fascinating and talented couple, so be sure to take some time during intermission or before the show to view their works.
“Becky’s New Car” plays through September 24, 2016. Curtain is 8:00 pm Friday and Saturday and 7:30 for Thursday performances. Also the Sunday matinee begins at 2:00 pm, so there are many options for catching the show. Carpenter Square is located at 800 W. Main in downtown Oklahoma City and has convenient parking available. For tickets and further information click www.carpentersquare.com or call 405-232-6500.