'Fish Story' sure to reel you in 

By Diane Nelson 
Union Democrat, August 26, 2004 

Here's the most important thing I can tell you about Murphys Creek Theatre's new play, "A Fish Story: The One That Got Away."

Go see it.  It runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 18 at Stevenot Winery in Murphys.

You won't want this one to get away.

It is hilarious, and not in a one-liner sort of way.  Its humor comes from loveable characters delivering clever lines with perfect timing.

I'm a sucker for plays with great dialogue, so I gobbled up "Fish Story" like a hungry trout to a well-cast fly.

The play is about a dysfunctional family (is that redundant?) trying to cope with tragedy.

We meet the father, George, whose coping method is denial and an endless stream of cheap beer; mother Zee, who opts for overprotection and worry; and daughter, Annie, who blames herself and everyone around her.  She just wants out.

Along comes Frank, a stranger to their mountain cabin with a leg wound, an earring and a runaway college boy's quest for life.  By the time George, Zee and Annie are through making him the answer to their prayers, all Frank wants is his pants.

The play was written some 20 years ago by Jon Tuttle, an old friend of director Graham Scott Green.  It's a wonderful script and, in Green's hands, it really jumps.  Of course, all of that could have fallen flat if not for the excellent acting.

Mitch Hrdlicka plays George perfectly - big and dense and belligerent and harmless.  George holds Frank at gunpoint, convinced he's a "cornflake," and by dawn he's got Frank drunk and fly fishing in the house with empty beer cans.  He's turned him into his son.

Hrdlicka has been on the local acting scene for 20 years and it shows.  A lesser actor could have made George into a caricature, into a buffoon.  Hrdlicka made him real, and that's one reason his lines were so laugh-out-loud funny.  I recognized George from a few family gatherings of my own. 

Terry Richardson was also wonderful as Zee, all hugs and anxiety.  A scratch wasn't a scratch, it was the onset of gangrene.  Like George, Richardson's Zee was true.

Stephanie Kramer plays Annie and you certainly wouldn't guess she's a high school student.  She commands the stage like an old pro, delivering her lines with the perfect mix of boredom, disgust and love.  Sure, her family is screwed up, but it's the only one she's got.

Frank is played by Davey Wagner, who makes me smile even just remembering his performance.  He went from mannerly guest to frantic hostage with perfect comic timing.

"Fish Story" wades into deep water, as you know it's bound to do.  You know the stranger will make them confront their demons.  The confrontation is short - maybe too short, from a realistic standpoint.  But I didn't mind.  I like by poignancy laced with humor, and 'Fish Story' gave me more than my limit of laughs.

Murphys Creek Theatre is the perfect setting for this play, beneath the stars, amid the tall trees.  You have no trouble believing you're in a mountain cabin.

Truth is, Murphys Creek Theatre is the perfect setting for any play.  If you've never been there, you really need to check it out.  It's so festive.  Folks bring their picnics and sip their wine and visit during intermission.  It's not everywhere you can see great acting beneath a canopy of stars.

Two fins up.