The Santa Maria Civic Theatre gave sanctuary to novelty on the evenings of March 13 and 14 for a reader’s theater showcase production of a new work by Ventura-based playwright Randall Lewis. The new work by Lewis, titled Sam & Asher, required a whopping cast of three actors. It includes the title characters Sam Greenberg (Steve Chambers) and Asher Carvalho (Josh Cornell), and the subject of their discussion, Alexandra (Sarah Willingham).
The elder Sam and the generation-younger Asher sit down for cigars and a talk about Sam’s daughter, Alexandra, whom Asher hopes to marry. Sam gets repeatedly annoyed with the young man for making jokes and “being a smartass” before he unravels enough to address the truth: He doesn’t agree with the coming wedding for a variety of reasons, and he’s prepared to act in any way to prevent the matrimony.
The conversation between Sam and Asher takes several turns, some pointedly dark, but always with a hilarious comeback, especially from Asher, who handles the news of Sam’s nefarious plans with a zen-like calm and quick quips. It isn’t until the duo’s talk comes to an end, and the scene shifts to Asher and Alexandra, that we learn the full context of the previous conversation. It turns out the two have been married for years, and that the meeting over cigars was Asher’s visit to Sam’s convalescent home.
“A person very near and dear to me started having Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, and I’ve been trying to get my head around my feelings for that,” said Lewis at a question-and-answer session following the debut performance on March 13.
“Part of it was, I actually wanted to write comedy, and it seemed to me that the young guy talking to his potential father-in-law, it had the potential for sparks,” he said. “And then, it took some really dark turns I wasn’t expecting, but, when you’re on that bus, you just kind of roll with it.”
Santa Maria Civic Theatre board members, volunteers, and fans questioned Lewis, Cornell, Chambers, Willingham, and director Rob Paulus about various aspects of the production, from inception to execution. Lewis penned Sam & Asher initially as a short story, but brought it to the stage as his first play. After connecting with the Santa Maria Civic Theatre, his play was approved for its first read.
The performance and following question-and-answer session on March 13 included lots of laughter and a warm reception for the story, its characters, and all involved in making the production happen. Lewis expressed thanks for the theatre’s efforts, which were returned in kind by members of the volunteer theatre group.
“I think being an artist takes a lot of bravery, and for Randall to be here putting this work out, it’s brave,” Willingham said. “There are a lot of us here in the community who have written something but we are too scared to share it, and I think what the board wanted to do was to give people who haven’t had a chance to have their work presented in this way before, to give them a chance to be brave like that.”
The Santa Maria Civic Theatre board members and performers spoke with authority, saying that the production of Lewis’ new work should count as a welcoming and call to local artists with a creative vision who would like to see their work staged in a reader’s theatre format.
“I really hope that more writers who are scared submit their work, because I think it is a great finished product here, but it also gives the writer a chance, for the first time, to see it come to life,” Willingham said. “We would love for this to be a workshop moving forward, where people feel comfortable submitting their work and getting to see it, so I hope this is the start of something here.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne is considering penning a new musical. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 19-26, 2015.