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Tasty Tuna

If you're headed out to Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern to see its current production of "Greater Tuna," be sure to check your sensitivity at the door.

This riotous comedy takes aim at life in the small town of Tuna, Texas, where liberals are as scarce as winter snowflakes and censorship is alive and well.  The hilarious array of characters that pass across the stage are as colorfully bizarre as they are disturbingly true to life.

The play's cast consists of two actors – Joe Inscoe and David Clark – who create a larger cast of 20 distinct characters.

Inscoe takes on the persona of 10 Tuna townspeople, everyone from Bertha Bumiller, who is banning books and trying to hold her family together, to the Rev. Spikes, who extols his heavenly message through clichés, to Pearl Burras, who feeds biscuits packed with strychnine to the stray dogs that bother her chickens.

Clark takes on another 10 characters that include brother and sister, Stanley and Charlene Bumiller – Stanley is an unreformed reform school misfit and Charlene is a cheerleader wannabe – and Petey Fisk who has an affinity for all creatures great and small.

Director Joe Pabst hit gold when he cast Inscoe and Clark in this fun, quirky comedy. The two bring new meaning to the term multiple personalities. Both actors wear the skins of their characters as comfortably as they wear their own. They channel each personality with ease and finesse. They are a complete joy to watch.

The two hit the height of comedy during a funeral scene where the Rev. Spikes eulogizes the deceased judge – he was wearing a Dale Evans swimsuit when he died – while the catty Vera Carp dozes off into an unladylike position.

Kudos also go to costume designer Marsha Miller Hailey who created quick-change costumes that not only add a layer of depth to each character, but also rival the changing speed of any NASCAR pit crew.

You probably won't agree with some of the beliefs and actions of the wacky folks in "Greater Tuna," but you'll have a great time watching them. Come with an open mind and have lots of fun.

"Greater Tuna" runs through June 15 at Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern . Tickets are $38. Call 282-2620 or visit www.BarksdaleRichmond.org for tickets.