A Funny, Topical “Hummingbird Wars” at Arts Garage
By Skip Sheffield
Two new shows stand in stark contrast this week in area
theaters. “Hummingbird Wars” is onstage through Feb. 2 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach.
“42nd
Street” is running through Feb. 9 at the Wick
Theatre (formerly Caldwell) in Boca Raton.
The two productions could not be more different, but each is
excellent in its own right.
“Hummingbird Wars” is a premiere production of playwright
Carter W. Lewis’s latest work.
Lewis is a prolific, rising playwright whose work has been
produced at prestigious theaters across the country, including the now-defunct
Florida Stage, whose artistic director Louis Tyrrell now heads the theater
program at Arts Garage.
“Hummingbird Wars,” directed by Tyrrell’s friend Greg
Johnson of the Montana Repertory Theatre, is inspired by the ongoing war in Afghanistan and
its aftermath.
Todd Allen Durkin plays Warren, a decorated Afghan war hero
who has returned to his suburban Minnesota
family. Warren’s
family situation is as creaky and cracked as the foundation of their shoddy tract
house.
You could say Warren
is suffering from post-war traumatic stress syndrome, as he has been home a
full year yet remains in a fog of depression and apathy. His family is of scant
comfort. Between her job and various advocacy crusades,
wife Mel (Jeri Hacker) is hardly ever at home.
Son Pete (Andrew Griner, Jr.), 15, is sullen and
uncommunicative. Pete inexplicably “finds” guns in the house.
Kate (Gretchen Porro)), 19 has come out as a lesbian, and
wants her girlfriend Tracy (Joline Mujica) to come and live with her.
Surprisingly “Hummingbird Wars” is quite funny, with Todd
Allen Durkin basically playing a deadpan straight man to the nutty types around
him. The play is quite short and performed without intermission, so if you
don’t like it, you won’t have wasted much time.
Tickets are $25-$35. Call 561-450-6357.
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