Review: 'Make Me a Match' entertaining enough, but can get too wordy

Following the line of spring love, the latest performance by the River City Players community theater group "Make Me a Match" delivers love and sarcasm to an intimate audience in the River City Yacht Club above Port Cape.

In the play by Lawrence Roman, Stevie leaves her high-paying human resources job in the corporate world to dip her toes in the social world, where she's never been comfortable.

She hires a matchmaker named Robin who sets her up on terrible dates until he finally confesses he thinks he's the match for her. Stevie's mother fits the typical meddlesome but well-meaning mom with her ear perpetually smashed against a door to eavesdrop.

The one-scene play depends heavily upon script and acting. What quality the first lacks, the latter thankfully delivers. The script draws enough laughs and groans to make the experience better than Saturday night television, but its attempt to describe the "perils of modern-day matchmaking" fail with unrealistic dialogue.

Stevie, played by Lindsay Miller, delivers the line "Anything bad can be made into something good if you have enough words." Clearly the playwright thought the same thing.

Despite the language, the cast delivers believable and enjoyable performances. Miller's portrayal of a successful businesswoman who has no time for silly social games -- and gets nervous attempting to play them -- makes everyone in the audience feel awkward and nervous for her.

Sara Corbin, who plays Stevie's mother Grace, rushes around the stage in desperate attempts to fix her daughter's life. She seamlessly switches from an overinvolved mother to one who has her own relationship to fuss over.

The small space and Corbin and Miller's mother-daughter dynamic allow the audience to feel like a quiet friend sitting in a corner chair watching their interactions.

Stevie's two dates -- Owen, played by Matthew Heisserer, and then Wendell portrayed by Bryan Parker -- deliver the stronger male performances. Owen is a 52-year-old loner from old-money who likes chess and single malt Scotch whisky, and Wendell, well, he's eccentric. Parker plays the character with measured exaggeration and self-importance, the result of which makes for a hilarious 5 minutes onstage.

It's sometimes easier to play an eccentric character than a normal person, which is the challenge Justin Aden is given in playing Robin. The lines and movement work most of the time, but his sarcastic quips sometimes fall flat.

The wordy script aside, "Make Me a Match" by the River City Players provides an entertaining enough night-on-the-town alternative downtown.

charris@semissourian.com

388-3641

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