Sean Daniels returns for Steve Yockey play and other kid stuff
Sunday, October 5th, 2008
Uncle Grampa’s Hoo-Dilly Story Time, the children’s show at Inman Park’s Dad’s Garage Theatre, offered both a surprise guest and some surprisingly cogent economic commentary at Saturday’s performance. Each installment features an improvised children’s story enacted by such human characters as Larry Lederhosen (Matt Horgan) and Fritz the Evil Butler (Ryan Lucas) as well as various puppet friends including Jambles the Donkey (Christian Danley) and Quackers the Wrong-Way Duck (Lucky Yates).
On Saturday, the gang prepared to improvise the tale of “The Princess of Candy” when who should appear but Sean Daniels, the theater’s former artistic director and current associate artistic director at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Daniels emerged on a walker, festooned with bandages and arm braces, claiming to be “David Dow Jones,” who had suffered many “falls.” Larry Lederhosen et al concluded that Dow Jones could be revived if the children in the audience clapped and chanted “Bail-out! Bail-out! Bail-out!” The applause magically rejuvenated Dow Jones, who jumped into the air and clicked his heels together. Jambles and Quacker remarked that the children should be applauded for taking bold, decisive action to save Dow Jones, but added that they’d be paying for the bail-out until they’re 70.
Daniels wasn’t just in town for a cameo in a kid’s show, however: he’s directing the staged reading of Bellwether, a new play by former Creative Loafing employee Steve Yockey. From the official description: “The disappearance of 6-year old Amy Draft shocks the modern, affluent suburb of Inverness. And as questions go unanswered, initially sympathetic neighbors begin to whisper suspiciously about the girl’s distraught parents, Alan and Jackie. When the abduction abruptly leaps in magnitude, the entire community unravels into a seething mass of confusion and media frenzy.” The reading of Bellwether features a plethora of terrific local stage actors — Kate Donadio, Maia Knispel, Park Krausen, Jonathan MacQueen, Daniel May, Stacy Melich, Meghan Moonan, Joe Sykes, Kathleen Wattis and Rachel Winograd — so the $5 admission seems a real bargain for Monday night’s performance at 7:30 p.m. at Actor’s Express.
Image courtesy of Actor’s Express
