 Bethlehem Players present ‘Southern Fried Funeral’
By Carole Robinson, staff writer
crobinson@williamsonherald.com
After developing a reputation of providing the community with high quality family-friendly entertainment during the past 13 years, Bethlehem United Methodist Church and the Bethlehem Players are presenting their first world premiere.
“Southern Fried Funeral,” a comedy written by local playwrights Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler, hits the Bethlehem Players' stage March 12-20.
The best, the worst and the funniest of people are apt to emerge during a funeral, and do as Osborne and Eppler call on customs unique to truly Southern funerals in their original piece written specifically for the Bethlehem Players.
When Dewey Frye, the patriarch of the Frye family, suddenly dies, his two daughters, with totally opposite personalities and who haven’t spoken in years, must face each other and help their distraught mother plan the funeral and cope with the possibility she may loose her home to Dewey’s brother, who wants to use the property to construct a “yellow box hardware store.”
“One of the funniest parts of the show is when the sisters finally clash,” Osborne said. “We wanted to convey the humor of the sisters finally coming together as they try to discover their role in the family now that their father is gone.”
Type A daughter has her list made and finds it difficult to accommodate her sister’s ideas or those of Ozella, the overbearing head of the church Sonshine committee, who appears with her own list of three sets of pallbearers, color-coordinated napkins and punch recipes.
In a line directly from the play, Ozella says, “You have to decide what color punch you want to have at the visitation. That’ll help us decide what color the plates and napkins will be. Now, you don’t want orange, ‘cuz that says we’re happy and that would be kinda trashy.”
Meanwhile the food is piling up in the kitchen and momma is cooking up a storm half thinking her husband, who she continually describes as a nice man, will be home soon from choir practice.
“It’s hard to live with a nice man,” said Osborne. “Dewey spent so much time out at meetings and helping others, Dorothy got used to him not being home and all she can say is, ‘He was a nice man.’”
“We wanted to celebrate the traditions a Southern funeral is known for and laugh about the silly things we do without even questioning – the kind of funny things that happen when we try to step through the grieving process.”
In addition to all the confusion of planning the funeral and dealing with the grief, there is a rumor that Dewey may have won the lottery’s big jackpot, which brings a throng of curiosity seeking family and friends looking for their piece of the pie.
Make reservations now to see what happens.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students for the show only nights of March 12, 13, 19 and 20. The curtain rises at 7 p.m. on show only nights.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students for dinner shows nights March 15, 16 and 18. Dinner is provided by Barbara’s Restaurant and will be served at 4:30 and the show will begin at 6 p.m. There will be a box lunch matinee on Sunday, March 14, beginning at 12:30 p.m. and the show will start at 2 p.m.
Parties of 10 or more persons paying with one check may get a 10 percent discount.
For more information visit www.bethlehemumc.com. Tickets are going fast. Reserve them at drama@bethlehemumc.com or call 791-6456, ext. 2.
Posted on: 3/11/2010
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