Review: Talented cast makes 'Academia Nuts' entertaining

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say the play is the second in the River City Players' season.

With a small cast, one set and a simple plot, "Academia Nuts" doesn't seem impressive. And then those four people start to act.

Holly Raines and Tana Howard appear first in the two-act comedy that marks the second show in the season for the River City Players community theater. After a cursory warm-up period, Raines owns her character, a topless entertainer named Tammi. She delivers the somewhat shocking revelations with cavalier disregard and a wave of the hand.

Raines, who also played the intruding Aunt Martha in "Getting Sara Married," seems perfect for lines intended to catch the audience off guard.

Through the dialogue, the two women reveal that one -- Tammi -- is dealing with legal problems and car trouble while the other -- Howard as Judith -- is waiting to talk to her idol, Professor Peter Smedforson.

Howard has acted in or worked on more than 100 shows and commercials. She returned to the River City Players stage recently, and we as an audience should be grateful.

Howard's age, look and demeanor perfectly match her character. She's uptight, condescending and nervous -- on stage, of course.

She panics and leaves before the professor returns home. Tammi hides in a closet while Peter (AJ McNamara) and Stewart (Paul King) exchange words. Stewart tells Peter that the poet they both study hid a poetic autobiography in the house before he died. Stewart wants to find it and split the profits. The audience finds out later that Judith planned to reveal the same information.

King's awkward stance and desperate tone convey his character's desolate position. His rambling is only stopped by McNamara's forceful outbursts. McNamara puts the right amount of authority in his interruptions and follows it with an appropriate amount of calm explanation.

Director Mike Craig has an eye for detail. When a character isn't speaking, he or she is doing exactly what you would think that person would do. Tammi picks her nails or looks around innocently. Judith rubs her temples.

The play doesn't have as many twists and turns as some other scripts the group has chosen, but it's entertaining and well-acted.

Dinner shows at Port Cape will be Friday and Saturday. A show-only night will be Thursday.

charris@semissourian.com

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